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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

GI  KT  OK 

X^-ig^  6iJr^AA^      jVa^Q.  Cue 
Received  Jyij  CLAj  .  iqo  o 

Accession  No.    /  Q  S  y  ^  •    Class  No. 


rWvri^H^rr^^^ 


THE 


Outline  of  Buddhism 


BY 


SKESABURO   NAGAO 


"jfSfU 


RRICE    F^IFTKEN    CENTS 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

BUDDHIST  MISSION 

807  Polk  Street 

1900 


THE 


Outline  of  Buddhism 


BY 


SKESABURO    NAGAO 


F»RICE     FIFTEKN    CENTOS 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

BUDDHIST  MISSION 

807  Polk  Street 

1900 


^7    ■  f'-^ 


THE    HICKS-JUDD    COMPANV, 

FRIXTERS,    PUBLISHERS,    BOOKBI NDKKS 

23   FIRST    ST.,  S.  F.,  CAI.. 

1900 


*?^3yi 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 


LIFE    OF    BUDDHA. 

Buddha's  Birth 7 

Siddartha's  Marriage ^ 

The  Three  Sights.. « 

The  Great  Renunciation.  9 

The  Long  Retirement. 10 

The  Enlightenment 10 

Buddha's  Temptation H 

Opening  of  Mission 12 

Sending  Out  of  the  Disciples 12 

Epoch  of  Gospel 13 

Buddha's  Farewell  Address 15 

Buddha's  Death 16 


GENERAL     HISTORY    OF    BUDDHISM. 

XIII.  The  First  Buddhist  Council 

XIV.  The  Second  Buddhist  Council. 
XV.  The  Third  Buddhist  Council 

XVI.  The  Divergence  of  Buddhism... 

XVII.  The  Fourth  Buddhist  Council. 

XVIII.  Buddhism  Successes 

XIX.  The  Fate  of  Buddhism  in  India 

XX.  Buddhism  in  Ceylon 

XXI.  Buddhism  in  Tibet 

XXII.  Buddhism  in  China 

XXIII.  Buddhism  in  Japan 


.18 

.19 

.20 

..22 

.23 

25 

..26 

..27 

..29 

31 

.35 


XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 


DOCTRINE    OF    BUDDHISM, 

Introduction -11 

The  Principle  of  Transition 42 

The  Principle  of  Cause  and  Effect 45 

The  Principle  of  Transmigration 49 

The  Confession ^^ 

Profession  of  Faith  in  Triratna 58 

Observance  of  the  Ten  Precepts 62 


PREFACE. 

The  object  of  this  book  is  intended  to  give  the 
reader  an  outline  of  the  general  history  of  Buddhism, 
together  with  the  life  of  Buddha  Sak^-amuni  and  his 
doctrine  in  brief 

It  is  but  just,  however,  that  I  should  own  here, 
being  far  from  an  original,  the  bulk  of  the  present 
volume  is  largely  taken  from  the  several  works  of 
older  scholars  of  great  fame  on  this  subject,  and  the 
reader  will,  no  doubt,  also  find  many  similar  state- 
ments through  the  writings  of  some  Western  scholars. 

Where  I  differ  from  my  predecessors  in  this  under- 
taking is,  that  I  have  endeavored  to  compile  the  pres- 
ent work  in  gathering  materials  considered  only  as 
orthodox  Buddhism. 

So  the  first  chapter  on  the  life  of  Buddha,  for 
instance,  is  mostly  derived  from  the  Northern  Budd- 
hist canons,  using  seldom  any  of  the  Southern  text. 
The  second  chapter  on  the  general  history  of  Budd- 
hism is  simply  a  rearrangement  of  older  texts.  The 
third  chapter  on  the  teachings  of  Buddha  is,  likewise, 
a  translation  of  the  common  canon  wildly  used  among 
the  Japanese  Buddhists. 

The  sole  aim  of  my  present  undertakiug,  as  stated 
above,  being'^simply  to  present  a  fair  glimpse  of  this 
much  talked  of  Buddhism  to  the  general  readers  of 
this  continent. 

If  one  desires  to  investigate  more  fuU}^,  I  would 
respectfully  refer  the  reader  to  those  learned  works 
of  distinguished  Orientalists,  such  as  Max  Muller, 
Oldenberg,  Eitel,  Beal,  Rhys  Davids,  Childers  and 
Dr.  Paul  Cams. 


6  The  Outlhie  of  Buddhism. 

A  word  of  explanation  concerning  my  English  is 
necessary.  I  sincerely  hope  it  will  deserve  my 
reader's  attention.  While  the  subject  matter  of  my 
work  is  absolutely  correct,  the  presentation  of  it  is 
necessarily  crude  on  account'of  my  limited  command 
of  the  English  language.  I  hope,  however,  my 
readers  will  understand  the  principles  of  Buddhism 
through  my  statements. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  thanking  Mrs.  Mary 
Olive  Coonradt  for  her  kindness  in  correcting  some 
parts  of  this  work.  I  shall  thankfully  receive,  at  all 
times,  suggestions  for  further  improvements. 

Skesaburo  Nagao. 

San  Francisco,  March  31,  1900. 


LIFE  OF  BUDDHA 


CHAPTER  I. 

BUDDHA'S   BIRTH. 

Our  Lord  Sal^yamiini,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world- 
and  'founder  of  Buddhism,  is  regarded  by  the  people 
as  one  of  the  great  men  the  world  has  produced.  He 
was  unquestionably  an  enlightened  man,  remark- 
able in  the  influence  he  exercised  over  his  countr)- 
men  when  alive,  and  the  still  greater  influence  he 
has  ever  since  exercised  by  his  doctrine  over  the  world. 

He  was  born  about  the  sixth  century  before  Christ, 
in  Kapilavastu,  the  royal  city  of  his  father,  Sudd- 
hadana,  who  was  ruler  of  a  kingdom  north  of  Oude, 
in  India.  The  prince  was  called  Gautama,  from  the 
tribe  to  which  his  famil}^  belonged.  His  person  was 
bright  like  the  shining  of  the  sun  and  beautiful  as  a 
child  of  heaven,  adorned  with  every  excellent  distinc- 
tion seldom  seen  on  the  earth.  At  the  moment  of 
his  birth  he  deliberatel}-  took  seven  steps  in  the 
direction  of  each  of  the  cardinal  points  and  said :  "  I 
alone,  of  all  beings  in  heaven  above  and  heaven 
below,  am  worthy  of  honor." 

His  mother,  Maya,  the  queen,  to  whom  the  future 
greatness  and  mighty  sway  of  the  prince  over  the 
world  was  revealed  in  a  dream,  died  a  few  days  after 
his  birth,  and  addressing  her  sister,  Prajapati,  said: 
"A  mother  who  has  born  a  future  Buddha  will  never 
give  birth  to  another  child.  I  shall  soon  leave  the 
world.     When  I  am  gone,  be  thou  a  mother  to  him." 

When  the  prince  was  but  a  child  of  seven  years 
of  age  he  seemed  to  understand  all  arts  and  sciences; 
and  he  had  such  great  talent  that  once  instructed  he 
surpassed  his  teachers.     After  this  he  was  called  Sid- 


8  The  Outline  of  Hnddhism. 

dartha,  a  name  given  him  by  his  father,  Buddha's 
proper  name,  and  meaning,  "He  who  has  reached  his 
goal,"  and  in  later  years  Buddha,  or  the  Enlightened 
One. 

CHAPTER  n. 

siddartha's  marriage. 

The  prince,  Siddartha,  dwelt  in  his  beautiful 
palace,  with  all  kinds  of  elegant  ornaments  to  delight 
him,  and  surrounded  by  singing  women  whose  music 
ravished  both  ear  and  heart.  His  mind  was,  however, 
unmoved  b}'  worldly  delights,  and  was  far  removed 
from  the  world.  His  purposes  aiming  high,  he 
shunned  all  evil,  and  dwelt  in  his  palace  practicing 
every  virtue;  also  he  loved  to  sta}-  under  the  great 
jamboo  tree  in  the  garden  of  his  father,  and  meditat- 
ing on  the  ways  of  the  world,  felt  deeply  the  weak- 
ness and  decay  of  old  age,  and  the  horror  of  sickness 
and  death. 

Seeing  his  sadness,  his  father  feared  he  would  grow 
up  a  mere  dreamer,  and  with  the  view  of  having 
him  enjoy  life,  chose  a  lovely  princess  for  his  wife. 
In  his  seventeenth  year,  he  was  married  to  the 
Princess  Yashodhara,  his  cousin,  the  gentle  daughter 
of  the  king  of  Koli.  It  appears,  in  their  wedlock, 
there  was  born  one  son,  Rahura,  who  afterward  be- 
came one  of  Buddha's  disciples. 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE    THREE   SIGHTS. 

Thus,  surrounded  b}^  his  wife  and  child,  Siddartha 
lived  in  the  calm  home  of  happiness  and  love,  not 
knowing  of  woe,  want  or  pain. 

But  at  this  time  he  met  three  woes  which  deepened 
his  pity  for  beings. 


The  Outlifie  of  Buddhism.  9 

One  day  when  he  was  driving  in  his  chariot, 
through  his  realm,  he  saw  a  feeble  old  man  struggling 
for  life,  his  heart  broken  and  oppressed,  his  head  white, 
and  shoulders  bent,  his  eyes  bleared  and  body 
withered,  holding  a  stick  to  support  him  along  the 
way ;  a  man  with  fever,  sick  and  mud-stained,  whose 
hands  and  knees  contracted,  and  his  tears  flowing 
as  he  piteously  muttered  his  petition ;  also  a  process- 
ion of  a  funeral,  bearing  along  on  a  litter,  with  burn- 
ing torches,  streamers  and  flowers.  It  is  believed  by 
the  common  Buddhists,  that  it  was  a  Deva  who  ap- 
peared to  Siddartha  under  these  different  forms  to 
exhort  him  for  the  salvation  of  man.  Be  it  as  it 
may,  the  fact  is  that  his  kind  heart  felt  for  all  men 
so  strong  a  pity  and  love  that  he  afterward  resolved 
to  sacrifice  himself  for  their  good. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   GREAT   RENUNCIATION. 

One  night,  when  Siddartha  was  in  his  nineteenth 
year,  he  sat  on  the  couch  in  the  garden  and  thought, 
"  All  the  world  is  full  of  darkness,  ignorance  and 
sorrow ;  there  is  no  one  who  knows  the  cause  of 
sorrow  and  how  to  cure  the  ills  of  existence." 

That  moment  he  resolved  to  leave  his  palace  and 
seek  the  way  of  salvation.  Then  he  returned  to  the 
room  where  his  wife  was  sleeping,  that  he  might  see 
his  beloved  wife  and  son.  The  child  lay  in  the  arms 
of  its  mother,  and  fearing  to  waken  them,  he  deter- 
mined to  go,  and  not  look  upon  his  boy  until  he  had 
become  the  Buddha,  or  Enlightened.  Although  it 
was  beyond  his  power  to  check  the  pain  of  parting, 
he  suppressed  his  feelings  for  the  sake  of  man,  and 
went  into  homelessness  for  salvation. 


10  The  Outline  of  Biiddhism. 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE    LONG    RETIREMENT. 

Leaving  his  palace,  our  Lord  Gautama  went  to  the 
river  Anoma,  a  long  way  from  Kapilavastu,  where  he 
had  his  hair  and  beard  shaved,  and  put  on  a  yellow 
garment  like  the  hermit  of  the  time.  Thus  he  went 
into  the  jungle  of  Uruvela,  there  placing  himself 
under  two  noble  Brahmans,  Arada  and  Udraka,  to 
see  if  their  teaching  would  satisfy  his  hope  of  find- 
ing the  knowledge  of  which  he  was  in  search,  but 
he  could  not  discover  the  reason  for  human  sorrow. 

He  left  them  and  traveled  through  the  kingdom  of 
Magadha,  and  arrived  at  the  forest  near  a  place  called 
Buddha-Gaya,  and  spent  six  years  in  practicing  the 
most  severe  rites  with  his  five  other  companions, 
Kandanya,  Bhadhiji,  Wappa,  Mahanama,  and  Assaji. 

Seeing  that  these  were  not  the  means  to  extinguish 
desire  and  to  produce  ecstatic  contemplation,  but  were 
useless  and  selfish,  he  left  them  and  went  on  alone, 
toward  the  Bodhi  tree,  under  which  he  might  attain 
enlightenment. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   ENLIGHTENMENT.  /' 

There  our  Lord  Gautama  took  his  seat  under  the 
Bodhi  tree  (fortunate  tree)  and  uttered:  "  I  shall  not 
rise  again  from  off  the  seat  until  I  have  attained  the 
Enlightenment."  And  he  entered  into  deep  and 
subtle  contemplation. 

One  day,  at  his  thirtieth  year  of  age,  the  great 
crisis  came  to  him,  for  he  passed  through  successive 
stages  of  abstraction  until  he  became  Buddha,  the 
man  who  knows  about  his  previous  birth^  of  the 
pqT|gpc  nf.,_the  transmigration  of  souls,  the  cailses 
of  sorrow,  and  t"Ee^ay  to  cure  the  ills  of'  existence 


The  Outline  of  Btiddhisvt.  11 

—  in  short,  the  man  who  discovered  the  Four  Noble 
Truths.     Thus  he  became  Buddha,  the  Enlightened 

Afterwards,  the  Buddha  uttered  himself:  "When 
I  apprehended  this  (the  Noble  Truth)  and  when  I 
beheld  this,  my  soul  was  released  from  the  evil  of 
desire,  released  from  the  evil  of  earthy  existence, 
released  from  the  evil  of  error,  released  from  the  evil 
of  ignorance.  In  the  released  awoke  the  knowledge 
of  release;  extinct  is  re-birth,  finished  the  sacred 
course,  duty  done,  no  more  shall  I  return  to  this  world, 
this  I  know." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

BUDDHA'S   TEMPTATION. 

When  Buddha  sat  down  under  the  Bodhi  tree, 
Mara,  Lord  of  the  five  desires,  tempted  him  a 
second  time.  At  first  Mara  sent  his  three  daughters. 
The  first  was  named  "  Lust-polution,"  the  second 
"  Able  to  delight  a  man,"  and  the  third  "  Love-joy," 
to  allure  him,  but  Buddha  paid  no  attention  to  them. 

Seeing  that  Buddha  had  no  desire  for  the  three 
daughters,  Mara  ordered  his  subjects,  the  five 
desires,  to  attack  him,  even  using  force,  but  was 
again  defeated  by  the  power  of  the  great  virtues 
of  Buddha.  Afterward,  when  he  had  become  the 
Buddha,  and  remained  under  the  tree,  fasting, 
and  enjoying  the  bliss  of  emancipation,  Mara 
tempted  him  again  and  again .  The  temptation  which 
he  felt  most  severe  was  to  enter  at  once  into  Nirvana, 
instead  of  preaching  his  doctrine  to  men.  But  finally 
his  deep  compassion  for  all  beings  made  him  resolve 
to  proclaim  the  truth  he  attained  to  mankind  that 
they  too  might  be  free  from  sorrow. 


12  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

OPENING   OF   MISSION. 

After  remaining  under  tlie  Bodhi  tree  during  forty- 
nine  days,  Buddha  went  to  Isipatna,  near  Benares, 
where  he  first  preached.  Some  northern  Buddhist's 
books  say  that,  the  second  week  of  his  enlightenment, 
Buddha  began  his  gospel. 

In  the  assembly  there  were  his  former  five  com- 
panions, whom  he  had  left  when  he  saw  that  the 
reason  for  human  sorrow  could  not  be  discovered 
by  their  system  and  practices. 

Buddha,  pitying  them  for  their  errors,  and  point- 
ing out  the  uselessness  of  their  endeavors,  showed  to 
them  the  perfect  way,  or  a  middle  path  between 
mortification  and  self-indulgence,  and  the  instability 
of  the  ego,  and  lastly  the  bliss  of  Nirvana,  which 
only  can  be  obtained  by  the  middle,  or  the  eight-fold 
path. 

These  doctrines  are  preserved  in  the  Dharmacha- 
krapravartana  Sutra,  or  "  the  sermon  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  righteousness." 

According  to  some  northern  Buddhist's  books, 
Buddha  preached  the  Buddhavatamsaka-maha-vai- 
pulya  Sutra  in  the  second  week  after  his  enlight- 
enment, and  which  was  preached  nine  times  in  seven 
different  places. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

SENDING  OUT   THE  DISCIPLES. 

When  Buddha  had  finished  speaking,  the  five 
Brahmans  perfectly  understood  the  law  of  complete 
purity.  When  he  had  thus  converted  the  five  he 
went  with  them  and  preached  in  Benares. 

At  that  time  fifty  young  men  of  the  wealthy 
families  of  Benares  had  become  disciples,  and  they 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  13 

also  became  Arahats.  Knowing  them  to  be  perfectly 
enlightened  disciples,  Buddha  commanded  them 
thus:  "  O,  disciples,  be  like  brothers;  one  in 
love,  one  in  holiness ;  assist  one  another,  and  spread 
the  truth  from  place  to  place  for  the  welfare  of  the 
people.  This  is  the  holy  brotherhood,  this  is  Sangha." 
He  thus  sent  out  his  disciples  in  different  coun- 
tries where  the  people  were  eager  to  receive  it.  And 
it  was  his  custom  during  the  good  weather  for 
him  and  his  disciples  to  go  out  preaching  to  the 
people,  but  during  the  rainy  season  they  would  join 
their  master  in  one  place,  to  receive  his  instructions. 

CHAPTER  X. 

EPOCH    OF   GOSPEL. 

The  doctrines  of  Buddha's  whole  life  are  arranged 
in  a  chronological  order  by  the  Chinese  scholar,  Ten- 
dai-dai-shi. 

The  first  is  called  the  period  of  Kegon  by  him, 
because  Buddha  preached  the  Kegon  Sutra.  It 
embraces  the  time  of  the  second  week  after  his 
enlightenment.  The  second  is  called  the  period  of 
Rokuon,  or  deer  park,  from  the  place  which  formed 
his  principal  place  of  residence.  It  is  also  known 
as  the  Agon,  because  Buddha,  during  the  second 
period,  z.  ^.,  twelve  years,  preached  the  Agon  Sutra. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  epoch,  the  five 
Brahmans,  before  spoken  of,  were  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  his  day,  being  the  first  converts,  others  soon 
becoming  converts.  Now,  returning  from  Benares  to 
Urvera,  where  he  had  entered  into  the  enlighten- 
ment, he  preached  to  a  band  of  Brahmans,  and  con- 
verted them. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-one,  Buddha  converted  a  noble 
youth,  Yashas  by  name,  the  son  of  a  wealthy 
merchant  in  Benares.     Then  he  went  to  the  kingdom 


14  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

of  Magadha.  There  lived  in  Urvera  the  Jatilas,  be- 
lievers of  Krishna,  fire  worshipers;  and  their  chief 
was  Kashapa,  whom  Buddha  converted  after  a  dis- 
course, and  then  the  believers  of  Krishna  became 
converts    soon   after   their    master. 

After  that,  Buddha  proceeded  to  Rajagriha,  whose 
king,  Binbisara,  had  become  one  of  his  converts, 
and  presented  to  Buddha  the  monastery  of  the  bamboo 
forest,  Venuvana.  This  was  followed  by  the  conver- 
sion of  many  distinguished  young  men  of  the  king- 
dom of  Magadha.  It  was  at  the  age  of  thirty-three 
that  Buddha  converted  Shariputra  and  Maudgal- 
yayana,  two  Brahmans,  and  chiefs  of  the  followers  of 
Sanjaya;  the  former  was  unsurpassed  in  wisdom,  the 
latter  in  magical  powers. 

After  two  years,  while  Buddha  was  preaching  at 
Rajagriha,  there  came  a  rich  merchant  of  Shravasti 
called  Sudatta,  better  known  on  account  of  his  charity 
in  helping  the  poor  and  orphans  as  "  the  friend  of  the 
orphan  and  destitute,"  or  Anathapindada.  He 
gladly  presented  to  Buddha  the   Geta-Vana-Vihara. 

At  the  time  when  Buddha  was  preparing  to  visit 
his  father's  court  to  make  an  offering  according  to  his 
religious  doctrine,  his  father  sent  word  to  him  to 
meet  him.  Now,  Buddha,  after  an  absence  of  twelve 
years,  revisited  his  father's  court.  After  this  first 
meeting,  Buddha  took  up  his  abode  in  the  Vihara 
of  the  banyan  grove,  which  his  father.  King  Sud- 
dhadana,  built  for  his  reception,  and  in  a  short  time  he 
converted  many  of  Sakyas.  At  short  intervals  after 
this,  his  father,  his  son,  Rahula,  his  foster  mother, 
and  later  his  wife,  became  followers  of  his  doctrine. 
Among  the  converts  of  Sakyas  were  Ananda,  his  half- 
brother,  the  son  of  Prajapati ;  Devadatta,  his  cousin 
and  brother-in-law  ;  his  nephew,  Mahakatyayana,  who 
played  a  prominent  role  as  a  missionary ;  Upali, 
the  barber,  and  Anurudha,  the  philosopher. 


The  Oiitliyie  of  Buddhism.     '  15 

When  Buddha  returned  to  Kapilavastu  a  second 
time,  he  preached  the  Buddha-dhyana-samadhi-sagara 
Sutra  to  his  father. 

The  third  is  called  the  period  of  Hodo  by  Ten-dai- 
dai-shi.  During  the  third  period,  i.  e.,  eight  years, 
Buddha's  important  preaching  is  preserved  in  the  Sut- 
ras as  follows  ■  The  Vimalakirtti-Nirdesa  Sutra,  the 
Viseshakinta-brahma-pari-prikk-ha  Sutra,  the  Lan- 
kavatara  Sutra,  the  Suvarna-prabhasa  Sutra,  the 
Srimala-devi-simhanada  Sutra,  the  Mahavaipulya- 
maha-samnipata  Sutra,  and  the  Suramgama-samadhi 
Sutra. 

The  next  twenty-two  years  is  called  the  fourth 
period  of  Han-uya  (Transcendent  Wisdom)  by  Ten- 
dai-dai-shi.  During  this  period  Buddha  preached  the 
Pragnaparamita  Sutra. 

The  last  eight  years  is  called  the  fifth  period  of 
Hoke  and  Nehan  by  the  same  scholar. 

During  this  period  Buddha  preached  the  Saddhar- 
mapundarika  Sutra,  the  Samantabhadra-bodhi-sattva- 
karya-dharma  Sutra,  the  Nirvana  Sutra,  andtheSuk- 
havativyuha  etc. 

Thus  during  forty-five  years,  our  Lord  Buddha 
preached  his  doctrine  in  traveling  from  place  to  place, 
through  the  kingdoms  of  India,  converting  all  the 
classes — the  Brahman,  the  Kshatriya  (literall}'^  the 
ruler,  /.  e  ,  king,  nobility,  warriors),  the  Vaisyas  (the 
people  proper — farmers,  merchants  and  artisans),  the 
Cludra  (the  subjected  aboriginees). 

CHAPTER  XI. 

BUDDHA'S   FAREWELL   ADDRESS. 

Our  Lord  Buddha,  having  accomplished  his  public 
mission  for  about  forty-five  years  after  attaining  his 
Buddhahood,  one  day  he  asserted  to  Ananda,    who 


16  The  Outli?ie  of  Buddhism. 

was  his  inseparable  attendant,  that  he  had  kept  back 
nothing,  and  he  no  longer  wished  to  lead  the  brother- 
hood, or  thonght  that  the  Sangha  was  dependent 
upon  him.  "  O,  Ananda,  I  am  now  grown  old  and 
full  of  years,  my  journey  is  drawing  to  its  close,  I 
have  reached  the  sum  of  my  days,  I  am  turning 
eighty  years  of  age ;  and  j  ust  as  a  worn  out  cart 
can  only  with  much  difficulty  be  made  to  move  along, 
so  the  body  of  the  Tathagata  can  only  be  kept  going 
with  much  additional  care.  Therefore,  O,  Ananda, 
be  you  lamps  to  yourselves.  Rely  ou  yourselves,  and 
do  not  rely  on  external  help.  Hold  fast  to  the  truth. 
Look  not  for  assistance  to  any  one  beside  your- 
selves." 

After  having  conversed  with  Ananda,  he  told  him 
to  call  the  brethren  together  at  the  Kapalatchaitya, 
and  there  he  told  them  that  his  end  was  approaching, 
and  exhorted  them  to  walk  in  the  way  of  truth  and 
to  follow  the  Sutra,  the  Vinaya,  and  the  Matrika. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

BUDDHA'S    DEATH. 

At  the  full  moon  night  of  May,  477  B.  C.,  Buddha 
came  with  Ananda  to  Kushinara  after  their  long 
journey,  and  stopped  in  the  twin  sal  tree  grove. 

Now,  knowing  that  his  last  time  had  come,  Buddha 
told  Ananda  to  place  his  couch  between  the  sal  trees. 
Ananda  did  as  he  was  bidden,  but  he  was  so 
sorrowful  that  he  could  not  restrain  his  flowing 
tears.  Seeing  him  weeping  Buddha  announced  to 
Ananda:  "I  have  ever  declared  to  you  that  it  is 
in  the  nature  of  all  things,  that  we  must  separate 
from  our  near  and  dear,  and  leave  them.  Now  then, 
Ananda,  can  it  be  possible  for  me  to  remain,  since 
everything   that    is    born,    or   brought   into    being. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  17 

contains  within  itself  the  inherent  necessity  of  dis- 
solution ?  How,  then,  can  it  be  possible  that  this 
body  of  mine  should  not  be  dissolved  ?  No  such  con- 
dition can  exist" 

Now,  when  the  disciples  and  the  believers  heard 
that  their  master  was  about  to  pass  away,  they  as- 
sembled around  his  couch.  Our  Lord,  even  in  his 
last  hours  through  the  whole  night,  preached  and 
converted  new  disciples ;  at  daybreak  he  entered 
Nirvana,  lying  by  the  sal  trees,  with  his  head  to 
the  north.  At  the  last  moment  he  addressed  his 
disciples  thus:  "  Behold  now,  brethren,  I  impress 
upon  you  that  decay  is  inherent  in  all  components, 
but  the  truth  will  remain  forever !  Work  out  your 
salvation  with  diligence,"  etc.  These  were  the  last 
words  of  our  Lord  Buddha 

His  funeral  was  celebrated  with  such  ceremonies 
as  became  the  great  king  of  kings.  Ambassa- 
dors came  from  all  the  kingdoms  to  claim  a  share 
of  the  relics,  and  the  relics  were  divided  into  eight 
portions,  and  eight  pagodas  were  erected  for  worship 
over  each  of  them. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

THE    FIRST    BUDDHIST    COUNCIL. 

Very  soon  after  Buddha's  death  the  first  Buddhist 
council  was  held  at  the  Sattapanni  cave,  near 
Rajagriha,  to  chant  together  the  words  of  the  Buddha, 
because  his  teaching    was  oral    and    conversational. 

The  council  consisted  of  five  hundred  Arahats,  who 
were  the  most  prominent  and  reverend  of  Buddha's 
followers,    under    the    presidency    of    Mahakayapa. 

By  request  of  the  assembly  Ananda,  who  was 
foremost  among  those  who  heard  much,  who 
understood  what  they  heard,  who  remembered 
what  they  had  heard,  recited  in  a  loud  voice  the 
Sutras  of  Buddha  as  he  heard  and  understood 
them,  mentioning  villages,  towns,  countries  and  king- 
doms in  which  they  had  been  preached  by  Buddha. 
When  Ananda  had  finished  reciting  all  the  Sutras 
which  Buddha  had  spoken,  the  assembly  cried  aloud, 
"These,  then,  are  the  Dharmas !  " 

Next,  the  venerable  Upali,  a  wise  man,  was  re- 
quested by  the  assembly  to  recite  the  Vinaya  which 
had  been  taught  by  Buddha.  When  he  had  finished 
reciting  each  Vinaya,  where  and  for  what  reason  each 
Vinaya  had  been  made,  the  assembly  consented  by 
saying,    "  These,    then,  are  the  Vinayas  !  " 

Then  Mahakayapa,  by  the  consent  of  the  as- 
sembly, had  compiled  the  Matrika,  or  the  meta- 
physical parts  of  the  doctrine,  with  the  purpose  which 
makes  perfectly  lucid  the  distinguishing  points  of 
that  which  ought  to  be  known.  Thus  the  teach- 
ings of  Buddha  were  sung  in  three  divisions  called 
the  Tripitaka,  or  three  baskets  of  Buddha. 


The  Outline  of  Btiddhisni.  19 

During  a  hundred  years  after  Buddha's  death, 
there  were  five  succeeding  teachers,  whose  names  are 
Mahakayapa,  Ananda,  Madhyantika,  Sanavasa  and 
Upagupta,  and  Buddhism,  by  their  missionary  works, 
became  the  influential  religion  throughout  India,  al- 
though, after  that,  among  the  Buddhists  arose  the 
quarrel. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    SECOND    BUDDHIST    COUNCIL, 

One  hundred  years  after  the  first  council,  377 
B.  C.,  the  second  council  was  held  at  Vesali,  in  the 
Walukarama  temple,  under  the  presidency  of  Yasat 
Thera,  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  errors  that  had 
crept  into  the  faith  ;  especially  for  condemning  the 
bhikshus  of  Vesali  who  proclaimed  ten  false  propo- 
sitions which  transgressed  the  law  and  the  rules, 
which  were  not  the  Buddha's  teaching,  or  comprised 
in  the  Sutras,  nor  to  be  found  in  the  Vinayas,  which 
transgressed  the  Dharma  ;  and  the  bhikshus  of  Vesali 
proclaimed  that   these  unlawful  things  were  lawful. 

At  the  same  time  the  Vesali  Buddhists  who  had 
been  excommunicated  by  the  Theras,  formed  an- 
other party,  and  many  people,  ten  thousand,  as- 
sembled and  held  a  council  to  maintain  their  ten 
propositions. 

Thus  Buddhism  was  divided  into  two  schools. 
The  congregation  which  was  held  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Yasat  Thera  is  called  the  Sthavirah,  on 
account  of  the  members  of  the  congregation  being 
Sthaviras,  or  high  priests.  The  council  which  was 
held  by  the  Vesali  Buddhists  is  called  the  Maha- 
sanghika,  on  account  of  the  great  number  of  its 
followers  which  made  it  a  great  assembly. 


20  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THK   THIRD    BUDDHIST    COUNCIL. 

The  third  council  was  held  at  Patna,  in  the  two 
hundred  and  twenty-sixth  year  of  the  Buddha  era, 
that  is,  251  B.  C,  in  the  Asokarama  temple,  under 
the  presidency  of  Maggaliputtatissa,  and  Asoka, 
the  king  of  Magoda,  the  second  founder  of  Buddhism. 

At  the  time  there  were  five  schools  of  Buddhism, 
and  the  king,  in  doubt  as  to  which  school  was  right, 
consulted  the  priests  as  to  what  should  be  done 
to  settle  the  matter,  and  they  answered  that  the 
matter  should  be  settled  by  the  majority. 

So  the  matter  was  settled  by  a  vote  and  the  vic- 
tory won  by  the  Mahasamghikahs. 

From  this  the  Mahasamghikahs  claimed  to  be  the 
original  portion  of  the  Buddhism. 

Buddhism,  however,  as  a  whole,  became  the  state 
religion  of  India  in  the  reign  of  the  king,  and  con- 
tinued so  for  nearl}'  nine  centuries 

The  king,  Asoka,  founded  many  pagodas  and 
monasteries,  and  subsequently  did  much  to  spread 
the  doctrine  by  sending  out  missionaries  to  foreign 
countries;  and  he  inculcated  its  principles  by  having 
them  cut  upon  rocks  and  stone  pillars,  and  in  caves 
in  his  own  country.  A  number  of  these  have  been 
discovered  in  various  parts  of  India  and  Afghanistan. 
They  are  exhibited  in  various  parts  of  the  world. 


asoka'vS  seventh  edict. 

"  King  Piyadasi,  beloved  of  the  gods,  desires  that 
all  the  sects  should  dwell  (at  liberty)  in  all  places. 

"They  all  indeed  seek  (equally)  after  the  sub- 
jugation (of  one's  self)  and  purity  of  heart,  though 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  21 

the  people  are  fickle  in  their  aims  and  fickle  in 
their  attachments.  They  may  pursue,  either  in  part 
or  in  whole,  the  aim  they  set  before  them. 

"Andlet  everyone,  whether  he  receive  abundant  alms 
or  not,  have  self  control,  purity  of  heart,  thankfulness 
and  firmness  of  love.     That  is  always  excellent." 


asoka's  twelfth  edict. 

"  King  Piyadasi,  beloved  of  the  gods,  honors  all 
sects,  both  recluses  and  laymen,  he  honors  them  with 
gifts  and  with  every  kind  of  honor.  But  the  be- 
loved of  the  gods  attaches  not  so  much  weight  to 
alms  and  honors  as  to  (the  desire)  that  the  good 
name  and  (the  moral  virtues  which  are)  the  essen- 
tial part  of  the  teaching  of  all  sects,  may  increase. 

"Now  the  prosperity  of  this  essential  part  of  the 
teaching  of  all  the  sects  (involves),  it  is  true,  great 
diversity.  But  this  is  the  one  foundation  of  all  (that 
is  to  say)  moderation  in  speech ;  that  there  should 
be  no  praising:  of  one's  sect  and  decrying  of  other 
sects ;  that  there  should  be  no  depreciation  (of  other) 
without  cause,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  rendering  of 
honor  to  other  sects  for  whatever  cause  honor  is  due. 
By  so  doing,  both  one's  own  sect  will  be  helped  forward, 
and  other  sects  will  be  benefitted ;  by  acting  otherwise, 
one's  own  sect  will  be  destroyed  in  injuring  others. 

"Whosoever  exalts  his  own  sect  by  decrying 
others,  does  so,  doubtless,  out  of  love  for  his  own 
sect,    thinking  to  spread  abroad  the  fame  thereof. 

"But,  on  the  contrary,  he  inflicts  the  more  an  in- 
jury upon  his  own  sect.  Therefore  is  concord  the 
best,  in  that  all  should  hear,  and  love  to  hear, 
the  doctrines  (Dharma)  of  each  other. 

"  Thus  it  is  the  desire  of  the  beloved  of  the  gods 
that  every  sect  should  be  well  instructed  and  should 
(profess)  a  religion  that  is  lovely. 


22  The  OtUline  of  Buddhistn. 

"  So  tliat  all,  whatever  their  belief,  should  be  per- 
suaded that  the  beloved  of  the  gods  attaches  less 
weight  to  alms  and  to  honors  than  to  the  desire  that 
the  good  name,  and  the  moral  virtues  which  are  the 
essential  part  of  the  teaching  of  all  sects,  may  increase. 

"  To  this  end  do  the  ministers  of  religion 
everywhere  strive,  and  the  of&cers  placed  over 
women,  and  the  inspectors,  and  the  other  officials. 

"And  this  is  the  fruit  thereof;  namely,  the 
proserity  of  his  own  sect  and  the  exaltation  of 
religion  generally." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE    DIVERGENCE    OF    BUDDHISM. 

We  have  seen  that,  under  the  second  Buddhist  coun- 
cil. Buddhism  branched  into  two  schools — Maha- 
samghikah  and  Sthavirah.  Of  these,  the  Mahasam- 
ghikah  school  has  gradually  been  divided  into  eight 
schools,  t.e.^  the  Mahasamghikah  proper,  Ekavyava- 
harika,  Lokottaravadina,  Bahucrutiya,  Pradshnap- 
tivadina,  Tchaityika,  Purvacaila  and  Avaracaila. 

Sthavirah  school  gradually  divided  into  ten 
schools,  z.  e.^  the  Sthavirah  proper,  Sarvastivadina, 
Vaibadyavadina,  Hetuvidya,  Vatsiputriya,  Dharmat- 
tariya,  Bhadrayaniya,  Sammatiya,  Mahicasaka, 
Dharmaguptaka,  Saddharmavarshaka,  Uttariya. 
These  are  called  by  the  northern  Buddhists  the 
twenty  sects  of  Hinayana,  or  the  little  vehicles. 

Of  the  twenty  sects  of  Hinayana,  the  Sarvastiva- 
dina school  was  the  most  flourishing  for  a  thousand 
years  after  Buddha,  while  many  great  teachers  whose 
names  are  Sariputra,  Mahamaudgalyayana,  Katya- 
yana,  Devasarman,  Vasumitra,  Vasubandhu,  Sam- 
ghabhdra,  and  five  hundred  disciples  of  Katyayana, 
etc.,  succeeded  each    other. 


The  Outline  of  Btiddhism..  23 

Now  it  is  in  order  to  treat  the  development  of  each 
of  these  sects,  bnt  we  cannot  tell  in  detail  here,  for 
it  would  take  many  pages,  and  the  space  will 
not  permit  us. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE    FOURTH    BUDDHIST    COUNCIL. 

The  fourth  great  Buddhist  council  was  held  under 
Kanishka,  who  reigned  from  Kashmir  widely  over 
northwestern  India,  in  the  first  century,  A.  D. 

It  is  stated  that  the  council  was  the  starting-point 
of  the  northern  scriptures,  called  Mahayana,  the 
"  Great  Vehicle,"  which  was  written  in  Sanskrit  and 
afterwards  had  been  translated  into  Tibetan  and 
Chinese.  Others  say  that  the  third  council  was  the 
starting-point  of  the  separation  of  the  northern 
(Mahayana)  and  southern  (Hinayana)  Buddhism. 

According  to  the  northern  Buddhists,  there  were 
three  different  collections  of  the  Tripitaka  of  Buddha, 
the  first  and  the  second  are  called  the  Hinayana 
books,  and  the  third  made  by  Mangusuri  and 
Maitreya  is  called  the  Mahayana  books. 

But  the  last  one  is  not  as  clear  historically  as  the 
first  two  collections,  and  it  is  the  reason  that  the 
western  scholars  criticise  northern  Buddhism  or 
the  Great  Vehicle  founded  by  Nagarjuna,  and  it 
can  be  regarded  only  as  an  admixture  of  Buddhistic 
and  Brahmanic  ideas.  Although  it  is  true,  this 
doubt,  it  seems,  can  not  be  claimed  as  correct, 
because,  as  above  mentioned,  the  starting-point  of 
the  northern  scriptures  remained  unsettled  whether 
it  originated  upon  the  third  council  of  Patna,  251 
B.  C,  or  upon  the  fourth  council  in  the  first  century, 
A,  D.,  and,  moreover,  as  we  shall  see,  that  some  Ma- 
hayana   Sutras  were  added  to  the  Tripitaka  of  the 


24  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

Hinayana  in  the  second  century  of  Buddha  era, 
and  at  that  time  Nagarjuna,  so  called  founder 
of  Mahayana,  was  not  yet  born  in  India,  who  can, 
then,  say  that  the  Mahayana  Sutras  are  not  Buddha's 
words,  but  were  taught  by  Nagarjuna? 

On  examining  the  history  of  Buddhism,  we  find 
ample  reason  for  adhering  to  the  statement  of  the 
western  scholar,  viz.:  that  the  first  period  during 
which  the  prevailing  school  was  the  Hinayana,  and 
the  Mahayana  came  long  after  the  Hinayana.  But  it 
does  not  appear  from  this  that  the  Mahayana  is 
not  the  original  portion  of  the  Buddha's  doctrine  ;  it 
may  be  traced  back  in  the  primitive  Buddhism,  but 
only  is  it  possible  to  say  that  it  had  not  gained  a 
predominant  influence  over  the  Hinayana  until  the 
period  of  the  fourth  council. 

At  this  period  disputes  often  took  place  between 
the  sects  of  the  Mahayanas  and  Hinayanas,  and  the 
Mahayanas  lost  their  power,  while  that  of  Hinayana 
became  flourishing. 

But  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century  before 
Christ,  Asvaghosha,  the  first  advocate  of  the  Ma- 
hayana, promulgated  the  Mahayana  against  the 
Hinayana  schools.  A  century  after  him,  the  well- 
known  Nagarjuna  expounded  the  doctrine  of  the 
Mahayana.  The  century  forms  the  golden  age  of  the 
Mahayana  school. 

Asamga  and  his  younger  brother,  Vasubandhu, 
composed  many  Sastras,  or  commentaries  of  the 
Sutras,  and  promulgated  the  Mahayana  doctrine.  At 
the  time  of  Vasubandhu,  among  the  Mahayana  a 
dispute  took  place,  which  divided  it  into  two  schools, 
the  Yo^a  doctrine  and  the  Madhyamika  doctrine.  In 
India,  however,  Mahayana  did  not  diverge  so  much 
as  did  the  Hinayana. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  27 

CHAPTER  XX. 


JjuiU'^ 


BUDDHISM    IN    CEYLON.     Vt^C^CM^  " 

In  the  year  250  B,  C,  or  the  reign  of  King  Tissa, 
who  was  an  ally  of  Asoka,  Buddhism  was  introduced 
into  Ceylon  by  Mahinda,  King  Asoka's  own  son. 
Mahinda  took  with  him  a  band  of  fellow  missionaries, 
and  afterwards  his  sister,  Sanghamitta,  followed  with 
a  company  of  nuns. 

Under  the  reign  of  this  king,  Buddhism  was  pro- 
mulgated successfully  by  the  devotion  of  Mahinda, 
aided  by  the  zeal  of  the  king,  who  aspired  to  be  the 
Asoka  of  Ceylon. 

During  the  last  two  centuries  Buddhism  did  not 
flourish.  But  in  the  latter  part  it  became  more  estab- 
lished in  the  island,  and  at  length,  in  the  reign  of 
Vattagamini  Abhaya,  about  80  B.  C,  manjr  great 
pagodas  were  erected  and  Buddhist  sacred  books 
were   committed   to  writing   in   the    Pali   language. 

During  the  reign  of  the  king,  Buddhism  branched 
into  two  schools,  the  Maha  Vihara  and  the  Abha- 
yagiri  school.  The  latter  was  considered  as  heresy 
by  the  former. 

During  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era,  on  the  whole,  there  are  no  important  features. 

In  the  reign  of  Mahasena,  about  300  A.  D.,  there 
came  the  Jetavana  school,  a  branch  of  the  Abhayagiri. 

The  next  century,  the  fourth,  was  a  period  of  great 
development  of  Buddhism.  In  the  reign  of  King 
Buddhadasa,  it  is  said,  the  Sutras  were  translated 
into  Cingalese.  PsX  the  end  of  the  fourth  century 
a  famous  Chinese  pilgrim,  Fa-Hien,  came  to  Ceylon. 
iVccording  to  his  record  there  were  sixty  thousand 
monks,  and  Buddhism  flourished  in  the  island. 

Earl}^  in  the  fifth  centur}'  a  famous  priest  of  Mag- 
adha,  Buddhaghosha  by  name,  came  to  Ceylon, 
where    he    translated    many    Buddhist   books    into 


28  The  Outline  of  Buddhism, 

Pali,  and  made  commentaries  of  Tripitaka.  He  is 
honored  as  the  second  founder  of  Buddhism  in  Cey- 
lon. That  successful  period  was  followed  by  a 
time  of  depression,  and  again  renewed  before  the 
recent  period.  In  the  reign  of  Sena,  about  866  A.  D., 
there  came  two  schools,  Arannika,  or  forest  monks, 
and  Pamsukulikas,  or  dust-heap-robe  wearers,  from 
the  Abhayagiri  school.  Under  the  reign  of  King 
Parakrama,  who  lived  about  the  eleventh  century. 
Buddhism  was  reformed  and  many  shrines  and  viharas 
were  erected.  He  is  said  to  have  united  the  several 
sects  which  existed  in  his  time,  and  invited  many 
monks  from  different  parts  of  Southern  India  to  in- 
struct native  monks. 

Not  long  after  this  reformation,  again  came  troubu- 
lous  times,  in  which  Buddhism  began  to  decline. 
But  from  Sri  Vijaya  Rajasinha's  time,  about  A.  D. 
1740,  onward  came  many  monks  from  Siam  and 
Arakan,  where  Buddhism  had  gained  predominance, 
and  they  re-established  Ceylonese  Buddhism. 

Under  the  reign  of  King  Kirti  Sri  Raja  Sinha, 
Buddhism  was  revived  with  some  of  its  former  interest. 
From  that  time  onward  Buddhism  became  established, 
and  now  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  influential  in 
the  island. 

In  the  present  period  there  are  four  sects  of  Budd- 
hism in  the  island,  those  of  Siam,  Amarapura,  Ram- 
anya  and  Kelani. 

The  Siamese  is  the  oldest,  and  dates  its  origin  from 
about  A.  D.  1750,  when  Kirti  Sri  Raja  obtained  twenty 
Siamese  monks  from  Siam.  This  sect  predominates 
in  the  Kandian  country,  and  also  in  the  low  country. 
The  Amarapura  school  was  founded  about  A.  D.  1800, 
by  men  who  had  been  expelled  from  the  Siames.  The 
Ramanya  school  is  more  recent.  It  thrives  in  the  low 
country,  side  by  side  with  the  Amarapura  school.  The 
Kelani  does  not  differ  widely  from  Siamese. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  29 

Buddhism  in  Burmah  was  derived  from  Ceylon  in 
the  fifth  century  A.  D.,  and  that  of  Siam  in  the  seventh 
century;  Java  received  the  missionaries  direct  from 
India  between  the  fifth  and  seventh  centuries,  and 
the  faith  spread  to  Bali  and  Sumatra. 

While  southern  Buddhism  was  thus  spreading 
across  the  ocean,  northern  Buddhism  had  found  its 
way  by  Central  Asia  into  China,  and  thence  to  Corea, 
in  the  fourth  century,  and  to  Japan  in  the  fifth  century. 

•     CHAPTER   XXI. 

BUDDHISM    IN    TIBET. 

The  first  appearance  of  Buddhism  in  Tibet  was 
made  in  the  reign  of  King  lyha-tho-tho-ri  Snyenbshal, 
who  was  born  about  A.  D.  347.  When  he  was  eighty 
years  old  there  fell  from  heaven  into  his  palace  a 
casket  which  contained  a  copy  of  the  Karandavyuha 
Sutra,  an  alms  bowl,  the  six  essential  syllables,  a 
golden  tchaitya  and  a  cla}^  image  of  the  chintamani. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  introductiou  of  Buddhism 
into  Tibet  was  from  Nepol,  in  which  it  had  gained 
prominence  at  that  time. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  A.  D.,  the 
King  Srong-btsan  sent  seventeen  scholars  to  India  as 
government  students.  They  went  to  Southern  India, 
where  they  learned  the  Indian  language,  and  before 
returning  to  their  country  they  translated  many 
Sutras,  and  also  carried  back  to  Tibet  a  large  num- 
ber of  Buddhist  books.  Thus  Buddhism  was  estab- 
lished during  the  reign  of  the  king  who  helped  to 
spread  it. 

In  this  century  Chinese  Buddhists  came  to  Tibet 
and  translated  many  Buddhist  books  into  Tibetan. 

The  success  of  Buddhism  in  Tibet  was  only  in  the 
eighth  and  ninth  centuries  A.  D.  In  the  eighth 
century  there  was  a  king  called  Khri-lde-gtsug-bstan 


30  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

mes  Ag-ts  oms,  who  built  several  monasteries  and 
invited  learned  monks  from  India  to  propagate  Budd- 
hism. During  his  reign  many  translations  of  Budd- 
hist works  were  made  from  Indian  and  Chinese 
Buddhist  books. 

In  755  A.D.,  King  Khri-srong-lde-bstan,  the  great 
protector  of  Buddhism,  invited  from  India  two  famous 
monks,  Santarakshita  and  Padma  Sambhava.  At 
that  time  a  Kashmir  Buddhist,  named  Ananda,  came 
to  Tibet,  where  he  translated  many  Buddhist  books 
and  propagated  the  doctrine  of  his  school. 

After  a  while  there  was  a  famous  priest,  Kamalsila 
by  name,  who  belonged  to  the  Madhyamika  school  of 
Buddhism.  He  translated  many  Buddhist  books 
into  Tibetan,  and  wrote  several  commentaries.  From 
that  time  the  Madhyamika  school  became  the  most 
popular  religion. 

In  the  reign  of  King  Mu-khri-btsau-po,  who 
ascended  the  throne  in  788  A.  D.,  and  reigned  about 
thirty  years,  Buddhism  had  gained  prominence  in 
Tibet.  The  king  invited  from  India  many  Buddhists, 
who,  assisted  by  Tibetan  priests,  translated  a  large 
number  of  Buddhist  canonical  works,  and  made 
numerous  commentaries  on  the  sacred  books.  More- 
over, they  corrected  the  old  translation,  and  substi- 
tuted their  own  new  translation  in  its  place. 

In  816  A.  D.,  Ral-pa-chan  made  a  regular  organi- 
zation of  the  priesthood,  and  afterward  himself  entered 
the  priesthood,  and,  moreover,  he  made  the  canonical 
regulation,  aided  by  the  Indian,  Khoten  and  Chinese 
priests. 

During  the  reign  of  Glang-dharma,  who  ascended 
the  throne  in  899  A.  D  ,  Buddhists  were  persecuted 
so  cruelly  that  they  had  to  flee  from  Tibet.  Although 
the  glory  of  Buddhism  vanished  through  the  perse- 
cution of  Glang-dharma,  yet  many  persons  were 
intent  on  re-establishing  the  faith  of  Buddhism. 


The  Oidlinc  of  Btiddhism.  81 

In  1013  A.  D.,  the  Indian  priest,  Dharmapala  by 
name,  came  to  Tibet  with  many  of  his  disciples,  and 
in  1042  the  famous  Atisha,  a  native  of  Bengal,  came 
there  and  translated  many  Buddhist  books  and  also 
wrote  many  commentaries.  He  was  succeeded  by 
his  Tibetan  disciples,  the  principal  one  among  them 
being  Bu-ston. 

Under  their  influence  Buddhism  revived  a^ain,and 
at  that  time  there  came  two  sects  of  Buddhism,  the 
yellow  sect  and  the  red  sect.  The  former  was 
founded  by  Bu-ston,  who  kept  the  strictest  rules  of 
Buddhism ;  the  latter  were  more  lax,  and  many  of 
them  were  married  before  becoming  priests. 

In  the  thirteenth  century,  Kublai  Khan  adopted 
Buddhism  and  greatly  promoted  the  Tibetan  monks. 

At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  there  arose  a 
reformer,  Tsong  Khapa,  who  raised  again  the  stan- 
dard of  orthodoxy  and  abolished  many  superstitious 
forms  which  clung  around  it.  After  this  reformation 
there  were  no  important  matters  in  the  Tibetan 
Buddhism,  but  the  Lama  enjoyed  his  papal  power  of 
Tibetan  Buddhism  without  molestation. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

BUDDHISM    IN    CHINA. 

The  introduction  of  Buddhism  in  China  dates  from 
the  one  thousand  and  sixteenth  year  of  the  Buddhist 
era  (according  to  Chinese  Buddhist  books),  when  the 
Emperor  Ming  (A.  D.  61),  of  the  latter  Han  dynasty, 
is  said  to  have  had  a  dream  in  which  he  saw  a  golden 
figure  hovering  over  his  palace.  He  inquired  of  one 
of  his  ministers  what  this  could  mean,  and  was  told  a 
sage  named  Buddha  had  been  born  in  the  West,  and 
that  his  dream  was  probably  connected  with  him. 

The  emperor  in  consequence  sent  missionaries  to 
India   to  obtain  news  concerning  this  sage.     They 


32  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

returned  in  A.  D.  67,  with  two  Buddhists,  Kayapa 
Mataga  and  Chik  Ho-ran,  together  with  various  books 
and  relics.  The  emperor  listened  to  them  with 
delight,  and  had  a  temple  built  for  them  in  his  capital 
Loyang,  and  it  was  named  the  monastery  of  "  White 
Horse,"  according  to  their  horses,  which  brought  the 
books  and  relics. 

During  this  dynasty  and  the  Western  Tsin,  it  was 
not  very  flourishing  Early  in  the  fourth  century 
(the  Eastern  Tsin,  317-420  A.  D.)  native  Chinese 
began  to  take  the  Buddhist  monastic  vows.  From 
that  time  many  Indian  Buddhists  came  to  China,  and 
they  undertook  the  labor  of  translating  the  Buddhist 
books. 

The  first  translation  of  the  Buddhist  books  had 
already  been  made,  for  we  read  that  at  the  close  of 
the  second  century  an  Indian  Buddhist  produced  the 
first  version  of  the  "  Lotus  of  the  Good  Law." 

In  the  year  A.  D.  405^  the  emperor  of  the  Tsin 
country  gave  a  high  office  to  Kumarajiva,  an  Indian 
priest.  The  priest  was  commanded  by  the  emperor 
to  translate  the  sacred  book  of  Buddhism.  Kumara- 
jiva, assisted  by  eight  hundred  priests,  produced  a 
new  translation  of  the  Buddhist  books  into  Chinese, 
extending  to  three  hundred  volumes.  This  is  an 
important  fact  for  the  history  of  Chinese  Buddhist 
literature. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  A.  D.,  Fa-hien, 
a  Chinese  Buddhist,  visited  India.  (See  "  The  Travels 
of  Fa-hien,"  translated  by  Dr.  James  Legge). 

About  the  year  460  it  appears  from  Chinese  history 
that  five  Buddhists  from  Ceylon  arrived  in  China  by 
the  Tibetan  route. 

In  the  seventh  century,  Huen-Siang,  an  illustrious 
Chinese  Buddhist,  traveled  from  China  through 
India,  and  brought  home  many  Buddhist  books  and 
translated  them.     Thus  the  number  of  the  translated 


The  Oidlirie  of  Bicddhism.  33 

scriptures  increased  to  61,198  volutaes  until  the  time 
of  Suy  dynasty. 

From  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  China 
there  were  varied  sects  of  Buddhism  by  prominent 
priests.     They  are  as  follows  : 

tl^/^,'-^   Iv Xhe  Abidharma  sect.     The  forming  of  the  sect 

in  China  dates  from  391  A   D.,  but  its  promulgation 
was  not  until  the  time  of  Huen-Siang  (about  650  A.  D.). 

2.  The  Satyasiddhi-Sastra  sect.  This  sect  began 
with  the  translation  of  the  Sat3'asiddhi  Sastra  by 
Kumarajiva  (about  406  A.  D.).  The  Sastra  was  com- 
posed by  an  Indian  named  Harivarman. 
^.  ^w  3.  The  Vinaya  sect.  The  Vinaya  sect  is  of 
Chinese  origin, and  was  founded  by  the  Chinese  priest, 
Dosen,  who  lived  early  in  the  seventh  centur}^  A.  D. 

4.  The  Madhyamika-Sastra  sect.  The  Madhya- 
mika  doctrine  was  founded  by  Nagarjuna,  who  lived 
in  Southern  India  about  seven  centuries  after  Buddha, 
and  about  three  generations  afterwards  was  introduced 
to  Karachar,  Central  Asia,  and  thence  to  China  by 
Kumarajiva,  the  famous  translator  of  Chinese  Budd- 
hist books,  where  he  propagated  its  doctrine.  But 
the  establishment  of  the  sect  was  by  the  Chinese 
priest  Kichizo  (589  A.  D.). 
1  e^5.  The  Nirvana-Sutra  sect.  This  sect  began  with 
the  translation  of  the  Nirvana  Sutra  by  Dharmaksha 
in  423  A.  D.  But  the  establishment  of  the  sect  was 
by  the  Chinese  priest,  Ekwan,  of  the  So  dynasty 
(424  A.  D.). 

6.  Dasa-bhumika  Sastra  sect.  This  sect  began 
with  the  translation  of  the  Dasa-bhumika  Sastra  by 
Bodhiruki  in  508  A.  D. 
'^^-^X.  L  '^^^  Pure  Land  sect.  This  doctrine  was  founded 
by  Vasbanddhu  in  India,  and  in  252  A.  D.,  an  Indian 
scholar,  Samghavarman,  learned  in  the  Tripitaka, 
came  to  China  and  translated  the  great  Amitayas 
Sutra,  and  its  doctrine  was  promulgated  in  China  by 


^' 


34  The  Outline  of  B%iddhism. 

Fhan-lwan.     But  its  firm  establishment  was  not  until 
the  time  of  Doshaku  and  Zendo. 

8.  The  Dhyana  sect.  The  Dhyana  doctrine  was 
founded  by  Bodhidarm,  the  twenty-eighth  Indian 
Buddhist  patriarch,  who  visited  China  in  the  sixth 
century  (o20  A.  D.).  He  was  the  third  son  of  a  king 
of  the  Kashis,  in  Southern  India.  The  Dhyana  sect 
branches  into  two  parties,  the  Northern,  which  lives 
undivided,  and  the  Southern,  which  branched  off  into 
five  houses  and  seven  schools. 

9.  The  Mahayana-Samparigraha  Sastra  sect. 
This  sect  began  with  the  translation  of  the  Sastra  by 
Paramartha  in  563  A.  D. 

Jr:M^,v-10.  The  Ten-Tai  sect.  This  sect  was  founded  by 
^  *^aSikai  in  the  sixth  century  (597  A.  D.).  This  was 
one  of  the  most  famous  Buddhist  doctrines  of  China. 
11.  The  Avatansaka  Sutra  sect.  This  doctrine 
was  founded  by  Nagarjuna,  the  Sutra  was  translated 
by  Buddhabhadra  in  sixty  volumes  in  557  A.  D.,  but 
the  firm  establishment  of  the  sect  was  not  until  the 
time  of  an  eminent  priest  named  Hozo,  in  the  Fan 
dynasty  (712  A.  D.). 
\'<V'v-  12.  The  Dharma-lakshana  sect.  This  doctrine 
was  introduced  into  China  by  Huen-Siang  from 
Silabhadra,  an  Indian  priest,  and  founded  by  Ji-on, 
who  learned  the  doctrine  from  Huen-Siang. 

13.  The  Mantra  sect.  This  branch  of  Buddhism 
is  said  to  have  been  founded  in  India  about  200  A.  D., 
by  a  saint,  Nagarjuna  by  name,  who  made  the  dis- 
covery of  an  iron  pagoda  inhabited  by  the  holy  one, 
Vagrasttava,  who  communicated  the  hidden  doctrine 
to  him.  In  716  A.  D.,  the  great  teacher,  Subhaka- 
rasimha,  came  into  China  and  promulgated  the  doc- 
trine, and  in  720  A.  D.,  Vagrabodhi  came  with  his 
disciples  to  the  capital  of  China  and  translated  the 
sacred  books. 


^' 


\\ 


The  Ontlhie  of  Buddhism.  35 

The  above  thirteen  schools  are  important  divisions 
of  Chinese  Buddhism  which  existed  up  to  the  time  of 
To  and  So,  that  is,  618-1280  A.  D. 

In  the  present  period  there  are  two  sects  of  Budd- 
hism in  China,  those  of  the  Blue  Robe  sect  and  the 
Yellow  Robe  sect.  The  former  sect  consists  of  Budd- 
hists of  the  old  Chinese  sects,  and  the  latter  sect  was 
introduced  from  Tibet  in  the  Gen  dynasty  (1280-1368 
A.  D.).     It  is  the  same  doctrine  of  Ramaism  of  Tibet. 

Chinese  Buddhism,  on  the  whole,  is  recovering, 
though  slowly,  its  ancient  prominence,  owing  to  the 
labors  of  Japanese  Buddhists. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

BUDDHISM    IN  JAPAN. 

In  the  sixteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Emperor 
Keitai  (A.  D.  534),  it  is  said  that  a  man  from  China 
brought  with  him  an  image  of  Buddha  into  Japan, 
and  setting  it  up  in  a  thatched  cottage,  worshiped  it. 

But  no  notable  progress  was  made  until  the  thir- 
teenth year  of  Emperor  Kin-myo,  A.  D.  552,  and  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  one  years  (according  to 
Japanese  Buddhists)  after  the  death  of  Buddha,  which 
is  generall}^  accepted  and  celebrated  as  the  year  of 
the  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Japan  from  Corea. 
Then  a  king  of  Hiaksai,  in  Corea,  sent  over  to  the 
court  a  golden  image  of  Buddha  with  Sutras  and 
sacred  books. 

From  the  foundation  of  Japanese  Buddhism,  Japan- 
ese Buddhist  students  went  to  China  and  Corea  in 
order  to  study  the  various  sects  of  Buddhism,  and 
brought  back  with  them,  upon  their  return,  various 
doctrines  and  the  Chinese  edition  of  Tripitaka  and 
its  commentaries. 


Ai'i 


^    tne 


36  T/ie  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

We  may  divide  the  period  of  the  doctrinal  develop- 
ment of  Buddhism  in  Japan  into  three  periods, 
namely : 

1.  The  first,  from  552  to  805  A.  D.,  will  cover  the 
old  six  sects,  which  had  for  their  center  of  propaga- 
tion Nara,  the  southern  capital.  They  were  called 
the  ancient  sects.  Kusha,  Jo-jitsu,  Ritsu,  Hosso, 
San-ron  and  Kegon  were  introduced  from  China  in 
this  order. 

2.  Then  follows  the  mediaeval  sects,  which  are  gen- 
erally called  Riyobu  Buddhism,  namely,  the  Ten-dai 
and  the  Singon,  from  the  ninth  to  the  twelfth  century. 

3.  This  was  succeeded  by  the  modern  sects, 
wholly  and  peculiarly  Japanese,  from  the  twelfth 
century  to  the  present  age.  They  are  Pure-Land, 
Zen,  Shin-shu,  Nichiren-shu  and  Ji-shu. 

Kusha,  Jo-jitsu,  Ritsu,  Hosso,  San-ron,  Kegon, 
Ten-dai  and  Shin-gon  correspond  in  the  main  to 
those  of  the  Chinese,  but  the  remaining  five  are  a 
peculiarly  Japanese  foundation.  Besides  these  there 
are  numerous  houses  of  Japanese  Buddhism,  that  is, 
thirty  branches,  named  after  prominent  teachers, 
from  whom  the  present  heads  of  monasteries  claim 
continuous  succession. 

We  shall  now  give  very  briefly  the  period  in  which 
each  sect  of  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  Japan. 

1.  Tbe  TCnqba_-&erf  JVHp  Abhidharma  sect).  In 
658  A.  D.,  the  Abhidharma  Sastra  was  introduced 
into  Japan  by  two  Japanese  priests,  who  went  to  China 
and  learned  the  Sastra  from  Huen-Siang,  but  it  did 
not  form  an  independent  sect,  though  the  Sastra  has 
always  been  studied  by  all  Buddhists.  The  doctrine 
of  this  sect  explains  that  the  three  states  of  existence 
(past,  present  and  future)  are  real,  and  the  nature  of 
the  Dharmas,  or  things,  are  constantly  in  existence. 
The  Jo-jitsu_aect  (the  Satya-Siddhi  Sastra  sect). 
625  A.  D.,  Ekwan  came  over  directly  from  Corea. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  87 

He  was  a  scholar  of  tlie  San-ron  sect,  but  he  especially 
studied  the  doctrine  of  the  Jo-jitsu  from  Kajo,  the 
Chinese  founder  of  that  school.  Therefore,  the  doc- 
trine of  this  sect  was  promulgated  at  that  time  in 
Japan,  although  there  were  some  scholars  of  the  doc- 
trine before  his  coming.  This  school  explains  the 
two  kinds  of  unreality,  that  is,  the  emptiness  of  the 
Atman,^  or_self,  and  Dharma,  or  thing. 

^1^:^.  '%_.  The  Ritsu  sect  (the  Vinaya  sect).  In  724 
A.  D.,  two  Japanese  priests  went  to  China,  and  having 
mastered  the  Ritsu  sect  doctrine  received  permission 
to  promulgate  the  Ritsu  doctrine  in  Japan.  With 
eighty-two  Chinese  priests  they  returned  a  few  years 
later  and  promulgated  the  Ritsu  doctrine  in  Japan. 
This  school  teaches  the  practice  of  the  moral  precepts 
which  Buddha  taught  in  Vinaya,  or  discipline  for 
his  disciples. 

-^  iJS^  4.  The  Hosso  sect  (the  Dhrma-lakshana  sect). 
'^^nThis  sect  was  introduced  to  Japan  by  Dosho,  the  Jap- 
anese priest,  who  went  to  China  in  the  fourth  year  of 
Hakuchi,  period  of  the  Emperor  Kotoku  (653  A.  D.). 
This  school  explains  that  all  things  are  made  to 
appear  by  one's  own  thought,  that  is,  the  three 
worlds  of  Desire,  Form  and  Formlessness  consist  in 
thought  only,  and  there  is  nothing  outside  of  thought. 

;  "X'^^y^.  The  San-ron  sect  (the  Three  Sastra  sect).  In 
625  A.  D.,  Ekwan  came  from  Corea  to  Japan,  and  pro- 
mulgated this  doctrine,  as  he  made  the  Jo-jitsu  doc- 
trine flourish  in  this  country.  He  is  considered  to 
be  the  patriarch  of  both  of  these  doctrines  and  the 
Jo-jitsu  doctrine  in  Japan.  The  doctrine  of  this  sect 
is  to  destroy  the  confused  idea  of  the  people  who 
believed  in  the  existence  of  all  things,  and  those  who 
believed  in  the  emptiness  of  all  things,  but  to  explain 

^      the  middle  patli^____^  - 

^fV-^^-  '^^^  Kegon  sect  (the  Avatamsaka  Sutra  sect). 
In  the  eighth  year  of  the  Ten-pyo  period  of  Emperor 


38  The  Ontlinc  of  Bitddhisfu. 

Sho-mu  of  the  Nara  dynasty  (736  A.  D.),  a  Chinese 
monk,  Do-ka,  brought  with  him  the  commentaries  of 
the  Avatamsaka  for  the  first  time.  It  is  said,  how- 
ever, that  a  Corean  priest,  Shin-sho  by  name,  claimed 
rightly  the  honor  of  the  introduction  of  the  sect  into 
Japan.  After  him,  Zikun  and  Roben  arose  and  made 
it  widely  popular.  It  is  said  that  in  all  the  preach- 
ings of  Gautama  Buddha,  the  Sutra  of  the  sect  only 
expounds  the  doctrine  of  completion,  that  is,  the  doc- 
trine of  that  which  one  and  many  are  mutually 
joined,  free  and  without  any  obstacles. 
^M  7.  ^-Xhe^Tendai  seci^  During  the  period  of  Ten- 
^  "^pyo,  Sho-ho  (749-756  A.  D  ),  a  Chinese  priest,  Gan- 
jin,  brought  with  him  the  doctrine  of  Ten-dai  into 
Japan  ;  but  its  growth  was  slow  until  an  ardent 
priest,  Den-giyo,  came  back  from  China  after  learn- 
ing the  various  schools  of  Buddhism,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventh  century,  and  propagated  it.  The 
doctrine  of  this  sect  is  to  make  men  understand  that 
all  things  were  originally  in  the  state  of  completion, 
though  they  sink  now  into  confusion  through  ignor- 
ance. 

8.  Sin-gon  sect  (the  Mantra  sect).  In  the  first 
year  of  the  Daido  period  (806  A.  D.),  the  Sin-gon 
doctrine  was  introduced  by  Kobo-dai-shi,  the  eminent 
Japanese  priest,  who  was  appointed  to  visit  the  middle 
kingdom  as  a  government  student.  He  studied  the 
secret  doctrine  of  Mantra  under  a  well-known  scholar, 
Ka-kwa,  a  Chinese  priest.  The  doctrine  of  this  sect  is 
explained  as  follows:  There  is  no  being  beside  Buddha, 
and  no  Bvdda  beside  being.  All  virtues  of  Buddha 
are  inherently  completed  in  all  beings,  though  ignor- 
ant people  do  not  know  it. 
*^^  9.  The  Jo-do  sect  (the  Pure-Land  sect).  The 
'  Japanese  Jo-do  doctrine  was  founded  by  Gen-ku, 
whose  birth  took  place  in  1133  A.  D.,  in  the  Uruma 
family  of  the  province  of  Mimasaka,  in  Japan.     In 


\\ 


The  Outline  of  Buddhisvi.  39 

1175  A.  D.,  he  began  to  propagate  the  doctrine,  when 
he  was  in  his  forty-third  3'ear.  This  sect  teaches  the 
doctrine  of  help  from  another.  This  sect  gives  up 
self-reliance  and  put  their  faith  only  in  the  boundless 
^  mercy  of  Buddha. 
yi^^'^10.  The  Zen  sect  (the  Dhyana  sect).  There  are 
three  divisions  of  the  Zen  sect  in  Japan.  The  Lin- 
Zai  division  was  introduced  by  a  Japanese  priest,  Yei- 
sei,  who  went  to  China  in  the  third  year  of  Bun-ji 
(1168  A.  D.).  The  So-to  division  was  introduced  by 
a  Japanese  priest,  Do-gen,  who  went  to  China  in  the 
second  year  of  Tei-o  period  (1223  A.  D).  The  Oback 
division  of  the  third  of  Zen  sect  was  introduced  by  a 
high  priest  of  China,  Yin-gen,  in  the  second  year  of 
Sho-o  period  (1653  A.  D.).  The  doctrine  of  this  sect  is 
explained  as  follows :  There  is  nothing  that  has  a  real 
existence  but  one's  own  thoughts ;  out  of  the  mind 
there  is  no  Buddha,  out  of  Buddha  there  is  no  mind ; 
virtue  is  not  to  be  sought,  nor  vice  to  be  shunned. 
'u  11.     The    Shin   sect  (the  True  sect).     The  Shin 

'^  sect  was  founded  by  Shin-ran,  who  was  born  in  the 
third  year  of  the  Sho-an  period,  that  is,  in  1173  A.  D. 
When  he  was  fifty-two  years  old  he  established  the 
sect,  and  he  died  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age. 
The  doctrines  of  this  sect  correspond  in  the  main  to 
the  Jo-do  doctrine,  though  there  are  many  minute 
differences  between  them  according  to  their  sectarian 
tenets. 

12.  The  Nichiren  sect.  This  sect  was  founded 
i^  by  Nichiren,  who  was  born  in  the  first  year  of  the 
■'^^  Tei-o  period.  In  1252  A.  D.,  he  began  to  promulgate 
the  doctrine  of  this  sect,  and  he  died  in  the  sixty-first 
year  of  his  age,  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  Ko-an  period. 
The  doctrine  of  this  sect  is  contained  in  the  Saddhar- 
ma-pundarika  Sutra  (the  Sutra  of  the  Lotus  of  the 
Good  Law),  which  Buddha  preached  in  the  last  period 
of  his  life. 


40  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

\y\         13.     The  Ji  sect.     The  Ji  sect   was  founded    by 

^  ,Ichipen,  whose  birth  took  place  in  the  first  year  of 

\^  the  Yen-o  period,  and  the  foundation  of  this  sect  in 

the  first  year  of  the  Ken-ji  period.     The  doctrine  of 

this  sect  corresponds  in  the  main  to  the  Jo-do  and 

Shin  doctrines. 

The  preceding  pages  may  be  regarded  as  a  sketch 
of  the  successive  schools  into  which  Buddhism  has 
subdivided  itself.  An  outline  of  the  common  doctrine 
upon  which  all  sects  may  stand  will  now  be  presented 
to  the  reader. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Our  Lord  Buddha  has  explained  various  methods 
to  suit  the  inclination  of  human  minds.  This  is  why 
Buddhism  is  branched  off  into  so  many  sects,  as  men- 
tioned in  the  foregoing  chapters,  and  each  sect  clings 
to  its  own  tenets  as  being  the  most  superior,  though 
these  sects  are  the  different  forms  which  lead  to  the 
Enlightenment.  The  basic  teachings  of  Buddhism 
follow  none  of  the  sectarians,  but  take  a  common 
ground  upon  which  all  sects  may  stand.  What  are 
the  basic  teachings  of  pure  Buddhism  ?  The  follow- 
ing table  will  be  interesting  to  students  of  Buddhism  : 


( 


Pure  BuHdhisni 


The  principle  of  transition. 
Doctrine  •{  The  principle  of  cause  and  effect. 
The  principle  of  transmigration. 

Confession. 
Practice..  -J  Profession  of  faith  in  Triratna. 
Observance  of  the  ten  precepts. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    PRINCIPLE    OF    TRANSITION. 

Biiddhisni  propounds  as  one  of  its  main  doctrines, 
that  earthly  things  are  vanity  ;  everything  is  tran- 
sient, changeful,  and  nothing  endures. 

The  world  is  like  a  morning  flower ;  it  glories  in 
Full  bloom  in  the  morning,  but  fades  away  at  noon. 
We  are  born  into  the  changeful  and  transient  world 
as  living,  feeling  and  thinking  beings,  and  live  for 
awhile  like  a  dream,  and  then  die./ 

In  the  world  we  hope  for  a  long  life,  and  only  a  few^ 
years  are  permitted.  Our  hopes  are  many,  but  few 
are  realized.  We  toil,  we  suffer  for  happiness,  and 
only  a  few  joys  are  fulfilled.  There  is  birth  and 
death,  growth  and  decay,  separation  from  objects  we 
love,  hating  what  cannot  be  avoided,  craving  for  what 
cannot  be  obtained. 

Man  is  an  organism  of  many  aggregates,  consist- 
ing of  the  material  form  and  immaterial  things.  As 
to  the  body  which  consists  of  the  material  form,  the 
boAy  of  seven  years  ago  is  absolutely  different  from 
the  body  of  seven  years  older  than  before,  according 
to  scientific  calculation ;  and  not  only  this,  but  after 
death  there  remains  nothing  but  the  dirt,  the  white 
bones.  That  which  man  calls  my  body  is  not  an 
entity,  it  originates  by  the  co-operation  of  material 
forms,  that  is,  the  elements  of  earth,  water,  fire,  air, 
and  ether. 

Next,  that  which  we  call  the  self,  the  Ego,  which 
perceives  the  actions  of  the  five  roots  of  mind,  touch, 
smell,  taste,  sight  and  hearing,  is  not  an  entity,  it  is 
only  a  mental  combination. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  43 

The  eye  that  sees,  the  ear  that  hears,  the  nose  that 
smells,  the  tongue  that  tastes,  and  the  body  that 
touches  objects.  These  five  organs  of  sense  consist 
of  the  five  objects  of  sense  or  form,  sound,  smell,, 
taste  and  touch,  and  there  could  not  be  a  self,  but  a 
combination  of  these.  The  mind  which  unites  the 
five  senses  in  one  body  cannot  appear  as  a  self,  but  a 
combination  of  sensation,  thought,  disposition,  and, 
lastly,  of  understanding. 

Thus  each  personality  of  man  is  a  combination  of 
mental  as  well  as  material  substance.  These  are  the 
true  phenomena  of  the  world  and  our  life.  But  men 
of  ignorance  of  the  true  phenomena  of  the  world  and 
themselves  beget  self-hood,  and  it  clings  to  obnoxious 
desires ;  they  crave  for  pleasure  and  the  result  is 
pain ;  they  crave  for  fleeting  things  and  they  cause 
pain. 

Thus  men  go  astray  from  error  to  error,  and  they 
can  find  no  escape  from  the  pains  of  their  own  mak- 
ing. Buddha,  our  Lord,  bewailed  the  vicissitudes  of 
life.  It  was  the  great  cause  that  Buddha  Gautama 
appeared  in  the  world  to  perform  salvation  for  the 
sake  of  the  world. 

Buddha  teaches  the  twelve  Nidanas,  or  the^t^^gl^e 
chains  ot  causation,  and  the  tour  noble  truths,  to  drive 
away  the  idea  of  selj,  an5  to  show  tne  trufET  in  the 
beginning  there  is  tl)  existence,  ignorance ;  on  ignor- 
ance depends  karnia  (2);  on  karma  depends  con- 
sciousness (3);  on'  consciousness  depends  name  and 
form  (4);  on  name  and  form  depend  the  six  organs 
of  sense  (5);  on  the  six  organs  of  sense  depends  con- 
tact (6);  on  contact  depends  sensation  (7);  on  sensa- 
tion depends  desire  (8);  on  desire  depends  attachment 
(^));  on  attachment  depends  existence  (10);  on  exist- 
ence depends  birth  (11);  on  birth  depends  old  age 
and  death,  sorrow,  lamentation,  misery,  grief  and 
despair  (12). 


44  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

Thus  ignorance  is  tlie  root  of  all  evil,  the  secret  of 
human  misery,  whose  fruit  is  sin.  It  makes  us  con- 
sider real  what  is  not  real,  prize  what  is  not  worth 
prizing,  and  pass  our  lives  in  the  pursuit  of  fleeting 
objects,  neglecting  what  is  in  reality  most  valuable. 

There  is  only  one  way  to  escape  from  transition 
where  birth  and  growth,  decay  and  death,  have  no 
dominion.  Man  must  dispel  ignorance  to  know  the 
whole  secret  of  man's  existence  and  destiny,  so  that 
we  may  not  crave  for  the  transient  life,  that  we  may 
live  in  the  highest  and  most  permanent  existence  of 
supreme  freedom  and  happiness.  Dispel  ignorance 
and  we  shall  destroy  the  wrong  karmas  that  rise  from 
ignorance  ;  destroy  the  wrong  karmas  and  we  shall 
wipe  out  the  wrong  consciousness  that  rises  from  them, 
destroy  wrong  consciousness  and  there  is  an  end  of 
name  and  form ;  destroy  name  and  form  and  the 
illusions  of  the  six  organs  of  sense  will  disappear ; 
destroy  illusions  and  the  contact  with  things  will 
cease  to  beget  sensation  ;  destroy  sensation  and  we 
do  away  with  desire ;  destroy  desire  and  we  shall  be 
free  of  all  attachments  ;  dispel  the  attachment  and 
we  destroy  the  existence  (selfishness  of  self-hood).  If 
the  existence  be  destroyed  we  shall  be  above  birth, 
old  age  and  death,  and  we  escape  all  suffering. 

In  order  to  dispel  ig^norance  and  remove  sorrows, 
Buddha  teaches  the  tour  noble  truths<r-)The  first 
noble  truth  is  the  existence  of  sorroV;  Buddha 
teaches:  "Birth  is  suffering,  old  age  is  suffering, 
sickness  is  suffering,  death  is  suffering,''to  be  united 
with  the  unloved  is  suffering,  to  be  separated  from 
the  loved  is  suffering,  and  not  to  obtain  what  one 
desires  is  suffering."  rj^ 

The  second  noble  truth  is  the  cause  of  suffering. 
Buddha  teaches:  "This  is  the  sacred  truth  ot  the 
origin  of  suffering:  it  is-J:he  thirst  for  being,  which 
leads    from    birth    to  birth,   together  with  lust  and 

desire  and  the  thirst  for  power." 

i 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  ^-^  45 

The  third  noble  truth  is  the  cessation  of  sorrow. 
Buddha  teaches :  "  This  is  the  sacred  truth  of  the  ex- 
tinction  of  suffering.  The  extinction  of  this  thirst  by 
complete  annihilation  of  desire." 

The  fourth  noble  truth  is  the  eig^ht-fold  ri^ht  path. 
(1)  right  belief;  (2)  right  resolve;  (o)  right  speech; 
(4)  right  action ;  (5)  right  living ;  (6)  right  effort ; 
(7)  right  thought;  (8)  right  meditation. 

The  first  and  second,  correct  views,  free  from  super- 
stition or  delusion,  and  right  resolve,  worthy  of  an 
intelligent  man,  are  especially  intellectual.  The 
third,  right  speech,  perfectly  truthful,  as  well  as 
kindly;  the  fourth,  right  action,  pure,  honest,  peace- 
able; the  fifth,  right  living,  doing  harm  to  no  living 
thing,  and  the  sixth,  right  effort,  self-control,  self- 
training.  The  seventh  and  eighth,  right  thought 
and  right  meditation,  are  purely  inward.  The  eight- 
fold right  path  may  thus  be  expressed  as  uprightness 
in  thought,  word  and  deed. 

Deed        i  ^^S^^^  ^*^*^- 
ueea...  -^  ^^^^^  Hying. 

Word Right  speech. 

r  Right  belief. 
I  Right  resolve. 
Thought -j  Right  effort. 

I  Right  thought. 
l^  Right  meditatiou. 

In  short,  this  is  the  doctrine  which  Buddha  pointed 
out  for  common  Buddhists,  to  lead  them  in  the  cessa- 
tion of  sorrow,  salvation  from  the  miseries  of  exist- 
ence, and  lastly  attain  to  Knlightenment. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    PRINCIPLE   OF    CAUSE    AND    EFFECT. 

Why  is  our  life  transient?  Why  does  each  one 
differ  from  another  in  character,  station,  possessions 
and  fate  of  life  ?     Why  are  some  men  born  in  riches 


/ 


46  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

and  some  men  born  in  poverty  ?  Why  are  some  men 
happy  and  others  unhappy  ?  Why  are  some  men 
well  all  the  time,  even  though  they  are  careless,  and 
others  always  sick,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
very  careful  of  themselves  ?  Why  do  the  bad  fare 
well  and  the  good  fare  ill  ?  Why  must  the  new  born 
child,  who  has  had  no  opportunity  to  incur  guilt, 
suffer  great  agonies?  What  has  caused  us  to  be 
born  ?  What  causes  us  to  die  ?  Whence  do  we  come, 
where  do  we  go  after  death?  What  was  our  pre- 
existence  ?     What  is  our  present  life  ?     Why  are  we  ? 

Many  scientists,  philosophers  and  all  religions 
have  tried  to  solve  these  most  important  problems, 
but  they  leave  them  unexplained;  some  of  them  in- 
volve us  in  scepticism  and  some  in  mysticism.  We 
find  the  truth  only  among  the  doctrines  of  Buddha. 
Buddha  teaches  that  every  act  has  its  unavoidablg 
consequenges,  good  or  evil,  according^  to  the  nature 
of_the  acts. 

This  is  called  the  law  of  Karma  "  deed."  This 
law  is  the  true  order  of  our  personal  experiences,  and 
this  offers  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  difference 
in  character,  station,  possession,  and  fate  of  our  life. 
All  the  effects  of  Karma  are  clear  and  without  par- 
tiality. Whosoever  doeth  evil  shall  fall,  whosoever 
doeth  good  shall  rise ;  and  there  is  no  uncertainty  in 
it. 

In  the  distribution  of  good  and  evil  there  are  three 
methods  :  That  which  bears  fruit  m  the  present  exist- 
ence ;  That  which  bears  fruit  m  re-birtii :  that  which 
bears  fruit  at  no  fixed  time..     These  are  called  the  i^ 
three  seasons!     This  is  the  reason  whv  three  worlds  w«^ 
are  preached.  J^ 


low,  there  may  be  some  who  assert  the  following 
opinion:  The  cause  and  effect  of  good  and  evil  is 
limited  only  to  the  present,  and  reason  does  not 
admit  of  any  punishment  again  in  our  future  life, 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  47 

even  if  we  suppose  that  there  be  a  future  life.  For 
there  are  punishments  for  bad  actions  in  the  present, 
and  wretches  are  punished  by  the  laws  of  a  country 
and  by  social  blame.  Moreover,  we  do  not  remember 
the  acts  of  our  pre-existence. 

This  doubt,  it  seems,  has  no  slight  effect  upon  the 
truth.  If  we  would  examine  the  subject  a  little  more 
we  might  find  that  the  law  of  cause  and  effect  must 
govern  all  things  in  the  future  as  in  the  present. 
Let  us  suppose  that  there  is  a  man  who  stole  some 
precious  things  from  another  man,  and  that  he 
escaped,  happily  for  himself,  the  punishment  of  the 
laws  of  the  country,  as  there  could  not  be  found  a 
proof  of  his  crime,  though  he  actually  stole. 

In  the  supposition  then,  though  the  robber  escaped 
the  punishment  of  the  artificial  law,  it  is  impossible 
to  escape  the  natural  law  which  says  that  "  we  reap 
as  we  sow,"  and  which  governs  all  beings  and  things. 

If  the  analogy  that  a  good  seed  produces  a  good 
plant  and  a  bad  seed  produces  a  bad  plant,  so  good 
and  evil  actions  of  beings  produce  good  and  evil 
effects  upon  themselves  is  a  truth,  it  is,  then,  that  the 
robber's  evil  seed  must  produce  evil  fruit  in  his  future 
life,  if  it  does  not  produce  it  in  the  present  life ;  for 
truth  can  not  be  interrupted  by  time  and  space. 

Then  we  can  understand  clearly  that  the 
principle  of  cause  and  effect  of  the  three  worlds  is 
founded  upon  the  universal  law  of  nature,  which  is 
perfect  justice,  equilibrium.  Let  us  speak  more 
about  the  subject  in  order  to  understand  clearly. 
The  life  journey  of  beings  is  beginningless,  and  one 
life  is  not  long  enough  for  the  reward  or  punishment 
of  the  beginningless  being,  and,  therefore,  still  acts 
remain  as  the  germ  of  a  new  existence.  Thus  our 
misfortune  or  happiness  in  the  present  existence  are 
effects  of  our  good  or  evil  actions  which  remained 
unexpiated  in  the  pre-existence.      Therefore,  if  we 


48  The  Outline  of  Riiddhism. 

have  an  excess  of  merit  or  demerit,  we  shall  be  happy 
or  wretched  born  the  next  time.  Buddha  teaches, 
therefore,  if  you  want  to  understand  the  cause  of  the 
present  existence,  look  at  your  present  state,  which 
is  effect,  and  if  you  want  to  know  the  effect  in  the 
future,  look  at  your  deeds,  they  are  cause. 

Buddhism  does  not  proclaim,  however,  such  doc- 
trines as  are  propounded  without  proof  On  the  con- 
trary, it  proclaims  that  it  is  our  duty  to  inquire  after 
truth,  and  to  trust  in  truth. 

It  is  true  the  immortal  truth  is  far  above  our  pres- 
ent knowledge  to  grasp,  but  there  is  certainly  one 
method  to  understand  it.  We  shall  reach  truth 
through  reason  only,  and  reason  teaches  us  there  are 
natural  laws  of  cause  and  effect  in  the  three  worlds ; 
past,  present  and  future. 

Now  the  question  arises,  if  the  idea  of  the  human 
Kgo,  by  which  we  are  conscious  of  our  own  existence, 
is  not  an  entity,  as  Buddhism  teaches,  what  is  it  that 
forms  a  new  birth  ? 

Buddhism  denies  the  existence  of  a  soul-substra- 
tum (Atman),  which  is  not  a  denial  of  the  feeling, 
thinking,  aspiring  soul  that  exists  in  the  personality 
of  man.  By  Buddhism  the  Essential  entities  are 
called  Skanaas,  and  the  aggregation  of  Skandas  is . 
called  personality;  that  is.  every  personality  consists 
of  the  material  qualities,  sensation,  abstract  idea, 
tendencies  of  mind  and  mental  power.  Of  these  we 
are  formed,  by  them  we  are  conscious  of  our  own  ex- 
istence. The  relation  between  the  Skandas  and  the 
personality  may  be  explained  by  analogy;  namely. 
Essential  entities  like  the  materials  of  which  a  house 
is  built,  and  the  personality,  like  the  house,  is  to 
Skandas  as  the  material  to  the  house.  There  is  no 
essential  personality,  but  the  Essential  entities  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  aggregation  of  the  Skandas, 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  49 

as  there  is  no  essential  house,  but  the  materials  which 
composed  the  house  after  its  destruction. 

So  the  personality  or  self,  the  aggregation  of  Skan- 
das,  which  consists  of  the  form,  sensation,  perception, 
discrimination  and  consciousness,  is  subject  to  change 
by  Karma,  but  the  Essential  Skandas  themselves  are 
indestructible.  The  indestructible  Skandas  recom- 
bine  under  desire  for  existence  through  the  influence 
of  Karma  into  new  combinations.  A  new  life  is  the 
result.  Thus  there  are  the  cycles  of  re-birth,  along 
which  the  Skandas  are  strung  like  beads,  and  will 
run  unbroken  until  universal  knowledge  is  attained. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    PRINCIPLE    OF     THE    TRANSMIGRATION. 

What  causes  the  re-birth  of  soul  ?     As  things  are, 
there  is  at  work  in  the  world  a  force  by  which  the 
elements,  on  which  life  depends,  these  faculties  and         . 
characters — form,    consciousness,   sense,  perception,  ,X^^ 
mental  energy — tend  to  recombination.      No   sooner.^ 
has  a  man  died,  and  his  life-elements  been  scattered,    ^ 
than  they  enter,  under  pressure  of  this  force,  into    (jT 
new  combinations,  because   during    life    he  had    set 
in  motion  that  force — the  unsatisfied  desire  for  physi- 
cal existence — which   has  a  creative  power  in  itself, 
and  consequently  it  causes  re-birth. 

Consider  now,  that  death  only  affects  one  (form) 
of  the  Skandas,  and  does  not  affect  tlie  rest  of  the 
qualities  that  make  up  a  human  being,  that  cause 
and  effect  are  inherent  in  the  universal  law  ofjiature.  ^ 
that  it  is  continually  operative,  thus  modifying  per- 
sonality as  surely  in  the  next  as  in  this  world,  that 
the  personality  continues  to  change  for  better  or 
worse,    according    to   the    preponderating    merit    or 


50  The  Outli7ie  of  Buddhism. 

demerit  of  several  lives  of  the  individual,  and  that  the 
individual  himself  is  continuously  operating;  that  is, 
he  has  a  force  which  has  a  creative  power  in  itself, 
and  which  is  only  conceivable  as  apart  from  matter, 
but  its  operation  is  absolutely  unknown  except  in 
connection  with  matter;  as  gravitation,  its  effect  is 
only  knowable  as  some  mode  of  motion  of  matter. 

Thus  we  understand  that  re-birth  is  the  result 
necessitated  by  the  force  of  Tanha,  under  the  guar- 
dian of  Karma,  as  all  things  fall  to  earth  by  the 
necessary  law  of  gravitation,  and  Samsara,  the  cycle 
of  life,  has  no  particular  beginning  or  ending.  Be- 
cause when  the  individual  receives  the  rewards  for 
his  good  or  bad  deeds,  a  residuum  of  merit  or  demerit 
is  always  left,  which  demands  its  recompense  or  its 
punishment,  and  therefore  still  acts  as  the  germ  of  a 
new  existence.  And  the  new  birth  is  accomplished 
by  enjoying,  suffering  and  acting  where  the  latter 
again  is  converted  into  works,  which  must  be  ex- 
piated afresh  in  a  subsequent  existence,  so  it  runs 
the  cycle  of  life — the  great  circle  of  re-birth  is  divided 
into  six  parts  called  Gati,  and  returns  unto  itself, 
completing  a  cycle;  now  passing  the  Devachan 
world,  then  receding  the  human  world,  and  so  con- 
tinuing to  revolve  through  the  Asura  world,  the 
brute  world,  the  Preta  world  or  the  world  of  vam- 
pires, and  hell;  thus  unto  all  eternity,  like  the  earth 
that  revolves  through  the  four  seasons  in  its  orbit, 
as  long  as  the  gravitation  lasts,  does  not  rest  on  one 
way  until  it  puts  an  end  to  all  his  Ego  self  or  the 
universal  knowledge  appears. 

The  first  three  are  called  the  three  superior  states 
of  Existence,  the  last  three  are  called  the  three  in- 
ferior states  of  Existence. 

The  following  is  an  example  of  cause  and  effect  as 
taught  by  Buddha : 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  ^         51 


(1)  Three  superior  states  of  Existence. 

I  (1)  Secondary  passion  of  greediness. 
Itscyuse    ^  (2)  Secondary  passion  of  anger. 
Ct^Lj^^J't-r  i  (3)  Secondary  passion  of  bewilderment. 

^*^  (1)  Mankind. 

Its  eflfect   \  (2)  Asura. 

(  (3)  Devas  or  heavenly  beings. 

(2)  Three  inferior  states  of  Existence. 

(  (1)  Great  passion  of  greediness. 
Its  cause    \  (2)  Great  passion  of  anger. 

(  (3)  Great  passion  of  bewilderment. 

(  (1)   Beings  in  Hell. 
Its  effect   •<  (2)  Pretas  or  departed  spirits. 

(  (3)  Brute. 

As  shown  above,  this  necessary  law  of  Karma  not 
only  determines  the  measure  of  happiness  or  suffer- 
ing, death  and  re-birth  of  each  individual,  but  also 
determines  the  origin  and  evolution  of  all  things  in 
the  universe. 

And  the  appearances  of  the  six  worlds  (Gati),  the 
operation  of  nature,  therefore,  are  the  effects  of  the 
good  and  bad  actions  of  living  beings.  When  we  are 
born  in  Devachan,  Human  world  and  Asura,  the 
power  which  is  the  cause  of  this,  therefore,  is  our 
own  merit,  also  when  we  are  born  in  the  Preta,  Brute 
and  Hell,  it  is  our  own  demerit.  Among  the  beings 
of  the  six  worlds,  though  men  are  more  thoughtful 
than  all  others,  yet  they  all  belong  to  the  world  of 
desire  and  are  not  free  from  confusion. 

But  consider  now,  that  the  Samsara  of  Gati,  the 
cycle  of  the  six  worlds,  as  said  above,  is  made  to  ap- 
pear by  our  thought  and  actions,  and  by  them  we 
are  obliged  to  transmigrate  through  the  Gati,  and 
that  it  is  only  our  ignorance  that  leads  us  to  these 
thoughts  and  actions  which  brought  us  in  the  cycle 
of  life.  Then  it  is  our  duty  to  reject  our  ignorance 
in  order  to  attain  the  eternal  state.  How  can  we 
dispel  our  ignorance?  Though  there  are  various 
rules  of  practice  of  Buddhism,  the  three  trainings  of 
the  higher  morality,  thought  and  learning  are  the 
most  important.     But  we  are  not  treating  about  the 


52  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

problem  in  the  present  chapter;  we  shall  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapter  give  in  detail. 

Let  us  dwell  upon  the  Mahayana  system  a  few 
minutes  before  passing  to  the  next  chapter.  The 
above  explanation  is  considered  by  the  northern 
Buddhists  as  the  doctrine  of  Hinayana.  The  Ma- 
hayana doctrine  teaches  the  worlds  of  Devas,  Man- 
kind, Asura,  Hell,  Brute  and  Preta,  are  all  trans- 
formations of  the  original  Buddha,  that  the  five 
elements  which  construct  our  body,  too,  construct 
the  "spiritual  body"  of  Buddha;  that  the  five  Skan- 
das,  which  compose  our  personality,  too,  form  the 
nature  of  the  "body  of  compensation"  of  Buddha; 
that  the  six  organs  of  sense  of  all  beings  are  the  form 
of  the  "body  capable  of  transformation"  of  Buddha. 

Thus  all  beings  are  originally  pure  and  excellent, 
and  the  everlasting  life  of  truth.  It  is  only  through 
ignorance  that  we  dream  these  six  worlds  exist  sep- 
arately in  local  places.  The  truth,  Buddha  and  Nir- 
vana consist  not  in  some  local  heaven  beyond  this 
world,  but  is  hidden  in  the  everobtrusive  selfhood  of 
man 

In  the  midst  of  immortality,  man  ignorantly  dreams 
of  the  birth  and  death  of  his  individual  self,  though 
there  is  no  birth  and  death  of  anything  save  of  his 
own  delusion.  Originally  all  beings  are  non-birth, 
non-death,  non-increase,  non-decrease. 

It  is  true,  then,  that  an  individual  undulation, 
which  began  in  truih  (by  ignorance),  or  the  subject- 
ive side  of  nature,  as  the-  wave  undulation  by  the 
wind  began  at  the  water,  is  carrying  through  the 
objective  side  (the  six  worlds)  of  nature,  under  the 
law  of  Karma  and  the  creative  force  of  Tanha,  and 
ends,  when  ignorance  is  dispelled,  in  truth,  because 
what  has  a  beginning  has  by  a  universally  admitted 
law  also  an  end. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  53 

When  we  attain,  therefore,  the  superior  state  of 
development  or  enlightenment,  the  Samsara  of  Gati 
becomes  completely  synonymous  with  the  eternal 
boundless  power  which  is  the  basic  of  everything 
existing ;  or,  to  put  it  in  the  words  of  the  western 
philosophy,  that  is  an  amalgamation  (?)  of  the 
objective  individual  and  the  subjective  truth;  this 
may  be  explained  by  analogy  ;  namely,  truth  like  the 
water,  the  individuals  like  the  waves,  the  individuals 
are  to  truth  as  the  waves  to  the  water.  There  is  no 
individual  beside  the  truth,  as  there  is  no  wave  beside 
the  water,  and  vice  versa. 

My  readers  may  profitably  consult  modern  physi- 
cal scientists  in  order  to  understand  the  relation 
between  Truth  and  the  individuals. 

Now,  let  us  take  the  universe  as  a  whole  H,  and 
its  materials  as  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  which  make  up  the 
universe,  then  adopting  the  method  of  algebra — 
A  +  B  +  C  +  D  +  B  +  F  =  H.  Because,  although  the 
left  hand  members  of  this  equation  are  always  having 
the  change  in  themselves,  the  sum  of  all  the  members 
or  that  quantity  is  always  constant. 

When  coal,  for  instance,  burns  in  oxygen  gas, 
what  we  have  is  merely  a  change  of  condition,  and 
the  only  result  is  a  change  from  the  energy  of  chem- 
ical separation  into  that  of  absorbed  heat,  there  is 
not  anjenergy  destroyed. 

Thus,  if  we  consider  the  origin  of  energy  which  is 
implied  in  each  particle  composing  the  universe,  we 
shall  see  that  it  is  produced  by  the  sun's  rays,  for 
each  visible  energy  originates  in  the  sun's  rays,  and 
if  its  ccmdition  is  changed,  large  quantities  of  heat  of 
high  temperature  are  produced.  Scientists,  moreover, 
tell  us  that  the  sun  not  only  is  the  ultimate  material 
source  of  all  the  energy  which  we  possess,  but  regard 
him  as  the  source  likewise  of  our  delicate  organism. 


54  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

In  a  few  words, — the  world  and  all  living  beings 
are  changed  conditions  of  heat,  and  there  was  only 
heat  before  the  begiuning  and,  therefore,  the  same 
heat  will  remain  after  the  end  of  the  universe.  From 
this  explanation  we  may  conclude  that  all  materials 
which  make  up  the  universe  are  the  changed  forms 
of  the  great  heat,  as  the  above  equation  shows  that 
each  individual  of  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  is  a  part  of  the 
changed  form  of  H  (the  whole  heat)  itself.  ^ 

Thus  again  we  may  conclude,  from  analogy,  that 
all  things  and  beings  are  transformations  of  the 
Truth,  that  is,  the  Devas,  Mankind,  Asuras,  beings 
in  Hell,  Pretas  and  Brutes  are  made  to  appear  by  the 
truth,  without  which  there  is  nothing  whatever. 

But  in  the  midst  of  immortality  man  ignorantly 
dreams  of  the  birth  and  death  of  his  individual  self, 
without  knowing  that  he  himself  is  the  Buddha  of 
the  permanency,  without  beginning  or  end,  and  with- 
out knowing  that  our  birth  and  death  is  only  invented 
nature  and  emptiness. 

Now,  the  aim  of  Buddhism,  therefore,  is  to  put  an 
end  to  re-birth,  to  awaken  all  beings  from  ignorance, 
and  to  restore  them  to  their  original  state  of  immor- 
tality or  Nirvana.  What  is  Nirvana?  It  once  was 
etymologically  the  great  problem  among  scientists. 
For  my  part,  although  its  meaning  is  extinction,  it  is 
the  extinction  of  desire,  of  suffering,  of  error,  of 
ignorance,  of  "  the  fire  of  lust,  hatred,  bewilderment.'' 
Hence  the  state  of  Nirvana  may  be  entered  upon  our 
earth  itself,  when  humanity  collectively  shall  have 
been  perfected,  and  all  physical  possibilities  realized; 
therefore  it  is  not  identical  with  annihilation,  as  has 
often  been  represented  b}^  Western  minds. 


r^JVfc    :^  Lo^tIam-'  i 


.'Vti., 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CONFESSION. 

"  To  cease  from  all  sin  (selfishness) 
To  get  virtue;  and 
To  cleanse  one's  own  heart, — 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  Buddha." 

As  before  mentioned,  there  are  three  trainings 
in  the  practice  of  Buddhism,  by  which  one  may  be- 
come free  from  ignorance  and  attain  to  Buddhahood. 

But   this    is    very    hard    work   for   lay   believers. 
Therefore,  now  we  will  take  the  easy  way  which  is 
the  common  creed  of  all  sects  of  Buddhism.     The 
principal  object  of  Buddha's  mission  was  to  cleanse 
the   heart    from    the   taint   of  sin.     There   are   two 
ways    of    cleaning    from    sin:    contrition    and    con- 
fession     The  former  is  commonly  practiced  by  all 
Buddhists,  but  the  latter  is  only  practiced  by  priests. 
Contrition  means  sorrow  for  sin,  a  true  grief  of  the| 
heart    for    having    committed   faults,  and    a    sincere;! 
repentance,  with  a  firm  purpose  of  sinning  no  more,  i 
And  we  must   know  that  we  are  really  sinful,  and 
that  sin   comes    not    by    Buddha    or   the   gods,    but 
by  our  ignorance  thereof,  and  that  ignorance  is  the 
root  of  all  evil,  whose  fruit  is  sin  ;    because  it  makes  L 
us  imagine  truth  as  untruth,  and  untruth  as  truth,! 
and  because  by  ignorance  we  create  various  passions  ■ 
— the  fire  of  lust,  hatred,  bewilderment — and  by  it 
we  also  commit  various  crimes. 

Some  object  to  contrition,  on  the  alleged  ground 
that  there  is  no  necessity  for  repentance,  since  we  are 
not  criminal  as  the  murderer,  the  robber,  and  the 
adulterer.  Although  a  man  does  not  offend  the 
criminal  laws  for  this  reason,  it  must  not  be  imagined 


56  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

that  he  is  also  free  from  the  religious,  the  moral  sin. 
We  are  not  infrequently  rebuked  by  our  conscience 
that  our  souls  are  not  free  from  fault  only,  but 
weighed  down  by  the  accumulated  sins  of  many 
years.  Certainly,  every  one  feels  his  conscience 
troubled  with  sins  of  commission  and  omission  of 
some  kind.  Will  a  man  discovering  poison  in  his 
body  neglect  the  remedy,  unless  he  be  a  fool  "^  I 
readily  understand  that  man  is  careful  of  his  body  ; 
few  neglect  to  seek  the  remedy  for  his  sickness. 

But  I  can  not  well  conceive  why  people  should 
neglect  the  sickness  of  soul,  which  necessarily  must 
be  cured.  It  is  our  duty  to  cure  the  leprosy  of  the 
body  as  well  as  absolutely  to  cleanse  the  defilements 
of  the  soul.  Thus  if  we  understood  the  necessity  of 
contrition,  next  we  must  know,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Buddha,  that  all  that  we  are  is  the  result  of 
what  we  thought.  By  oneself  riches  are  gained  ; 
by  oneself  poverty  comes  ;  by  oneself  evil  is  done ; 
by  oneself  one  is  purified  ;  purity  and  impurity  be- 
long to  oneself;  no  one  can  purify  another,  we  our- 
selves must  make  the  effort. 

Having  purified  our  sins  after  contrition,  hereafter 
we  must  hold  a  firm  resolve  not  only  to  avoid  all 
mortal  sin  and  its  near  occasions,  but  also  we  must 
make  an  effort  to  compensate  for  the  evils  of  the  past 
with  the  addition  of  good  deeds  which  will  be  done  in 
the  future. 

Confession  means  the  telling  of  one's  sins  to  a 
competent  and  venerable  bhikshu,  for  the  purpose  of 
outaining  forgiveness.  But  if  there  is  not  a  reverend 
bhikshu  to  whom  an  offender  may  confess  his 
offense,  he  should  confess  to  Buddha's  image  or  pic- 
ture with  a  deep  sense  of  shame  and  sorrow  for  hav- 
ing offended. 

We  do  not  believe  in  the  image  or  picture  itself, 
which  is  only  a  method  of  reaching  the  truth,  as  all 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  57 

our  words  are  symbols,  and  we  communicate  our 
ideas  through  symbols,  but  we  believe  in  the  mean- 
ing conveyed  by  the  symbol.  Confession  to  Buddha's 
image  means,  therefore,  that  we  set  our  mind  in  har-  \ 
mony  with  Buddha,  who  is  virtue,  j  ustice,  beauty, 
love,  and  other  ideas  have  a  real  and  true  existence  , 
in  reality,  and  which  also  consists  in  our  mind  obey- 
ing Buddha.  Buddhism  rejects  all  vain  repetitions 
of  Buddha's  name  as  attempts  to  receive  the  mercy 
of  Buddha,  and  to  change  the  will  of  Buddha,  or  to 
pray  for  his  pardon  of  our  offenses.  Because  all 
that  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we  thought.  It 
is  founded  on  our  thoughts,  it  is  made  up  of  our 
thoughts,  it  is  not  made  up  of  Buddha  or  gods.  This 
interpretation  of  the  doctrine  will  be  made  clear  if  we 
can  read  the  Brahmagala-Sutra. 

We  will  now  give  some  extracts  from  the  Sutra,  to 
show  its  character:  "  If  a  man  speaks  or  acts  with  an 
evil  thought,  pain  follows  him  as  the  wheel  follows 
the  foot  of  the  ox  that  draws  the  cart.  He  who 
speaks  or  acts  with  pure  thought,  joy  follows  him, 
like  his  shadow,  which  does  not  leave  him.  Let  no 
man  think  lightly  of  evil,  saying  in  his  heart,  '  It 
will  not  come  nigh  unto  me.'  As  by  the  falling  of  ' 
water  drops  a  water-jar  is  filled,  so  the  fool  becomes 
full  of  evil,  though  he  gather  it  little  by  little.  Raise 
thyself  by  thyself,  examine  thyself  by  thyself." 
Thus  we  are  taught  that  if  there  be  one  who  offend, 
the  fault  should  be  confessed  by  him  who  remembers 
it  and  desires  to  be  cleansed.  For  a  fault,  when  con- 
fessed, shall  be  light  to  him,  unless  he  shall  have 
weighed  himself  down  with  accumulated  sins  of  many 
years. 


58  The  Outline  of  Buddhism, 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

TRISARANA. 

Trisaraua  or  profession  of  faith  in  Triratna  is  con- 
firmation by  which  we  become  strong  and  perfect 
Buddhists  and  soldiers  of  the  three  jewels  or  the  holy 
trinity  of  the  Buddha,  the  Dharma  and  the  Sangha. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  Trisaraua — internal  and  ex- 
ternal. The  internal  profession  of  faith  in  Triratna 
is  the  belief  in  Triratna,  which  exists  in  ourselves. 
We  are  taught  that  all  beings  are  made  from  the  six 
great  elements,  namely,  earth,  water,  fire,  air,  ether, 
knowledge.  The  first  five  compose  the  body  and  the 
last  one  the  mind.  The  combination  of  the  six  ele- 
ments or  a  being  has  the  three  actions  of  body, 
thought  and  speech. 

Now,  the  six  elements  and  the  three  actions  are 
not  different  from  those  of  Buddha.  Therefore  there 
is  no  being  besides  Buddha  and  vice  versa.  Thus 
we  must  believe  in  Buddha,  whose  virtue  is  com- 
pleted in  ourselves,  as  we  have  the  seeds  of  becoming 
Buddhas.  But  we  ignorant  ones  do  not  know  it. 
We  will  find,  however,  that  only  Buddha,  by  dis- 
pelling our  ignorance  or  fear,  the  tyrant  of  man,  and 
gaining  wisdom,  which  makes  us  a  master,  and  puri- 
fying our  minds  from  sin.  This  is  faith  in  internal 
Buddha. 

The  Dharma— though  there  are  many  Dharmas,  a 
hundred  Dharmas  enumerated  in  some  Sastras,  and 
in  others  six  hundred  and  sixty  Dharmas,  which  were 
taught  by  Buddha,  the  six  great  elements  above 
mentioned  are  original  Dharmas.  And  again  they 
maybe  gathered  in  the  "only  mind"  of  Buddha. 
Moreover,  we  are  taught  Buddha's  mind  and  ours 
were  originally  equal  without  distinction,  but  we 
make  distinction  of  them  through  ignorance. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  59 

Therefore,  by  complete  conquest  and  destruction  \ 
of  ignorance;  by  searching  after  truth;  the  practice  j 
of  morality  and  the  cultivation  of  virtue,  there  ap- 
pears the  idea  of  union  with  Buddha,  and  the  union  j 
begets  many  preeminent  virtues,  as  Gautama  has' 
accomplished  the  enlightened  state. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  contents  of  the 
principal  virtues : 

Three  sciences — the  pure  precepts  of  morality, 
meditation,  wisdom. 

The  six  perfect  virtues — charity,  morality,  pa- 
tience, perseverance,  meditation,  wisdom. 

The  seven  requisites  for  the  attainment  of  supreme 
knowledge — recollection,  investigation,  energy,  joy- 
fulness,  calmness,  meditation,  equanimity. 

The  four  graces — the  grace  of  king,  that  of  Buddha, 
Dharma  and  Sangha;  that  of  parents,  that  of  people. 

Xhe  fourfold  memory — the  memory  of  the  impur- 
ity of  the  body,  that  of  the  evils  of  sensation,  that  of 
the  evanescence  of  thought,  and  that  of  the  condition 
of  existence. 

The  four  right  endeavors — effort  to  retain  meri- 
torious conditions  already  existing;  effort  to  produce 
such,  not  yet  attained ;  -effort  to  overcome  sinful 
states  already  existing ;  effort  to  prevent  new  ones 
from  arising. 

The  four  steps  for  the  obtainment  of  transcenden- 
tal talents — the  will  to  acquire  them,  the  necessary 
exertion,  the  indispensable  preparation  of  the  heart, 
and  the  diligent  investigation  of  the  truth. 

The  four  unlimited  thoughts — sincerely  to  wish 
the  good  of  all  beings,  to  sympathize  with  the  dis- 
tressed, to  rejoice  at  the  prosperity  of  others,  to  love] 
the  neighbor  without  the  least  partiality. 

The  four  social  virtues — almsgiving,  loving  speech, 
beneficent  conduct  to  others,  and  co-operation  with 
others.     Besides  these,  there  are  the  five  powers,  the 


60  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

eightfold  right  path,  the  ten  power  and  numerous 
virtues.  It  is  belief  in  Dharma  that  all  these  virtues 
are  completed  in  ourselves. 

Sangha — The  Sangha  means  friendship  or  har- 
mony. 

Then  it  is  clear  to  say  that  Sangha  is  the  state  of 
removal  of  every  bad  quality,  and  the  substitution  of 
every  good  as  above  mentioned ;  to  live  in  harmony 
with  brethren. 

This  is  profession  of  faith  in  Sangha  to  believe 
that  we  are  brethren  of  all  people. 

In  short,  we  must  believe  that  we  ourselves  are 
the  holy  trinity,  which  is  called  original,  because  it 
forms  our  human  being,  although  ignorance  has 
darkened  our  understanding,  weakened  our  will,  and 
left  in  us  a  strong  inclination  to  evil,  and  ignorance 
can  only  be  extinguished  by  trusting  in  truth,  love 
for  truth,  and  by  the  practice  of  morality. 

Truth  is  Buddha,  the  practice  of  morality  is 
Dharma,  and  the  love  in  the  truth  is  Sangha. 

Although  we  have  the  seeds  of  the  Buddha,  we 
ignorant  people  do  not  know  how  to  make  them 
grow  and  blossom  into  such  beautiful  flowers  as  Gau- 
tama did.  So  Buddha  teaches  them  to  follow  the 
external  Buddha,  Dharma  and  Sangha  in  order  to 
understand  their  original  states. 

The  external  profession  of  faith  in  Triratna  is  the 
belief  in  Buddha,  Buddha's  doctrine,  and  Buddha's 
disciples.  The  three  jewels  or  the  holy  trinity  of 
the  Buddha,  the  Dharma  and  the  Sangha  are  guides 
that  a  Buddhist  is  to  follow. 

They  are  generally  called  the  Tisarana. 

"  I  follow  Buddha  as  my  guide.  He,  the  Kxalted 
One,  is  the  holy  supreme  Buddha,  the  knowing,  the 
instructed,  the  blessed,  who  knows  the  worlds,  the 
Perfect  One,  who  yoketh  men  like  an  ox,  the  teacher 
of  gods  and  men,  the  exalted  Buddha." 


The  Ontline  of  Bziddhism.  61 

This  is  our  teacher  of  faith,  who  appeared  in  the 
world. 

"  I  follow  the  doctrine  as  my  guide;  well  preached 
is  the  doctrine  of  the  Exalted  One.  It  has  become 
apparent ;  it  is  above  time  and  space ;  it  says,  '  Come 
and  see;'  it  leads  to  welfare;  it  is  recognized  by  the 
wise  in  their  own  hearts." 

This  is  our  doctrine  to  follow,  taught  by  Buddha  : 

"I  follow  the  Sangha  as  my  guide;  the  commun- 
ity of  Buddha's  disciples  instructs  us  how  to  lead  a 
life  of  righteousness ;  the  community  of  Buddha's 
disciples  teaches  us  how  to  exercise  honesty  and  jus- 
tice; the  community  of  Buddha's  disciples  shows  us 
how  to  practice  the  truth.  They  form  a  brother- 
hood of  kindness  and  charity.  Their  saints  are 
worthy  of  reverence.  The  community  of  Buddha's 
disciples  is  founded  as  a  holy  alliance,  in  which  men 
bind  themselves  together  to  teach  the  behests  of  rec- 
titude and  to  do  good." 

This  is  Sangha  to  follow  as  our  guide. 

Beside,  there  is  another  one  called  the  present 
Triratna  which  means  the  Triratna  that  exist  in  the 
present  age.  Buddha  is  represented  by  the  image 
and  the  picture  of  Buddha,  the  Dharma  is  inscribed 
in  the  Tripitakas  or  three  baskets  of  the  sacred 
canons  of  Buddha,  and  the  monks  make  up  the 
Sangha 

But  to  believe  in  Buddha's  image  does  not  mean 
idol-worship,  like  the  pagan  who  considers  thei 
image  itself  as  divinity,  but  the  Buddhist  reverences- 
Buddha's  statue,  only  as  a  memento  of  Buddha  whoj 
conveyed  to  us  instruction,  wisdom,  and  salvation, 
as  people  offer  honors  to  the  picture  or  statue  of) 
their  merciful  king  or  patriot,  and  those  who  are 
considered  in  any  wa}^  great. 

The  sacred  books  are  not  the  truth,  they  are  the 
symbols  that  represent  the  truth,  or  are  thought  to 


6'2  The  Outlive  of  Buddhism. 

represent  truth,  and  to  attribute  divine  honor  to  the 

symbols  is  paganism,  or  idolatry.     We  worship  only 

I    the  truth,  and  the  moral  law  of  nature  which  is  in- 

'    scribed  in  sacred  books,  but  the  symbols  are  expressed 

with  the  paper  and  ink. 

And  we  Buddhists  must  be  thankful  for  the  kind- 
ness of  the  patriarchs  as  teachers  and  expounders  of 
the  doctrines  revealed  by  Buddha.  There  are,  how- 
ever, ignorant  monks  who  are  intellectually  and 
morally  inferior  to  lay  believers. 

We  do  not  want  to  honor  these  ignorant  and  im- 
moral monks.  We  are  taught  by  Buddha  that  only 
those  were  to  receive  honor  "  who  are  distinguished 
by  their  wisdom,  and  have  conquered  every  tempter, 
and  are  free  from  every  evil,  and  live  so  pure  and 
noble  a  life  that  it  beggars  description.  Such  are 
void  of  confusion,  and  filled  with  joy,  and  are 
deeply  concerned  in  the  security  and  encouragement 
of  their  fellows." 

Thus  we  can  perceive  the  internal  holy  trinity  by 
the  power  of  the  external  Triratna,  by  the  practice  of 
morality.  For  the  moment,  there  is  no  Buddha's 
mind  besides  ours,  and  there  is  no  mind  of  ours 
besides  Buddha's.  In  a  word,  the  heart  of  those  who 
obtain  the  perfect  morality  becomes  one  with 
Buddha's.  Now  the  original  holy  Triratna  may  be 
called  the  Rig  (reason  completed),  the  power  of  the 
external  Triratna  may  be  called  Kaji  (adding-hold- 
ing),  and  the  practice  of  the  morality  to  become  one 
with  Buddha  may  be  called  Ken-tok  (apparent- 
obtaining). 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

OBSERVANCE    OF   THE   TEN   PRECEPTS. 

Misunderstanding  of  the  doctrine  of  Buddha,  some 
Buddhists  of  the  present  age   teach    the    ethics    of 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  (i3 

asceticism.  They  regard  the  pursuit  of  happiness  agf 
immoral.  It  is  remarkable  that  Buddha  never, 
taught  the  ethics  of  asceticism.  He  said^p'  Neither 
abstinence  from  fish  or  ffeshTnor  going  naked,  nor 
shaving  the  head,  nor  wearing  matted  hair,  nor 
dressing  in  a  rough  garment,  will  cleanse  a  man 
who  is  not  free  from  delusions.  Self-mortification 
by  heat  or  cold,  and  many  such  penances  performed 
for  the  sake  of  immortality,  do  not  cleanse  the  man 
who  is  not  free  from  delusions.  Strengthen  thy 
body  by  drink  and  food,  and  thus  enable  thy  mind/| 
_to_§eek  composu r e . " 

Thus  Buddha  himself  ate  and  drank  to  refresh  his 
body  and  thus  to  aid  his  mind  to  become  clear. 

Buddhism  does  not,  however,  accept  the  principles 

that  regard  happiness  as  the  criterion  of  ethics,  and 

believes  tha't  pleasures  are  the  ultimate  aim  of  life. 

We  are  taught:  "He  who  lives  for  pleasure  only, 

his  senses  uncontrolled,  immoderate  in  his  food,  idle 

and   weak,   him    Maya,  the    tempter,  will    certainly 

overthrow,  as  the  wind  throws  down  a  weak  tree." 

And  in  another  place  we  are  taught :/"  Let  no  man 

{take  into  consideration  whether  a  thing  is  pleasant 

|or  unpleasant.     Pleasures    destroy  the   foolish;   the 

ybolish  man,  by  his  thirst  for  pleasure  destroys  him- 

pelf  as  if  he  were  his  own  enemy.jV  Buddha  bid  us 

walk  the  middle  path,  which  keeps  aloof  from  both 

extremes — the  hedonism  and  asceticism. 

According  to  Buddhism,  man  must  make  an  effort 
of  his  own,  as  we  have  often  mentioned ;  pain  is  the 
outcome  of  evil,  happiness  is  the  outcome  of  good. 
Which  acts  are  good  and  which  are  bad  ?  Buddha 
said:  "All  acts  of  living  beings  become  bad  by  ten 
things,  and  by  avoiding  the  ten  things  they  become 
good.  There  are  three  sins  of  the  body,  foiir  sins  of 
the  tongue,  and  three  sins  of  the  mindr  -  h?n  y 

UNIVERSIT 


64  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

The  three  sins  of  the  body  are  murder,  theft  and 
adultery.  The  four  sins  of  the  tongue  are  lying, 
slander^  abuse  and  idle  talk.  The  three  sins  of  the 
mind  are  covetousness,  hatred  and  error.  They  may 
be  included  in  the  following  formula: 

^  Not  to  kill. 

Deed    \  Not  to  steal. 

(  Not  to  commit  adultery, 

f  Not  to  lie. 

W    d    J  ^°'  ^°  invent  evil  reports. 

°^      I  Not  to  carp. 

[  Not  to  be  profane. 

(  Not  to  covet. 

Thought   \  To  cleanse  one's  heart  of  malice. 

(  To  free  one's  mind  of  ignorance. 

In  every  land  and  age  man  has  had  several  doc- 
trines of  morals  according  to  the  degree  of  his  civi- 
lization. 

But,  though  man  has  many  moral  doctrines  or 
precepts,  I  believe  that  the  ten  precepts  taught  by 
our  Lord,  Buddha,  as  a  doctrine  for  humanity,  are 
perfect,  and  that  this  doctrine  has  the  greatest  and 
deepest  meanings,  for  it  teaches  self-control  as  the 
main  duty  toward  oneself  and  justice  as  the  main 
duty  toward  others. 

Buddha  said:  "He  who  looks  for  pleasure  for 
himself  only,  and  who  is  selfish,  is  not  a  virtuous 
man,"  and  it  is  said  in  Sutra  that  if  anyone  breaks 
the  ten  precepts,  which  nobody  denies  as  the  truth, 
he  is  not  far  from  the  fowl  and  the  beast,  for,  though 
he  has  a  body  like  a  man,  his  mind  is  not  far  from 
the  beast. 

I  will  give  briefly  the  explanation  of  the  ten  pre- 
cepts. 

1.  "Not  to  kill,"  but  have  regard  for  life.  The 
term  kill  commonly  means  the  taking  of  life,  but  the 
commandment  implies  not  only  to  murder  man- 
kind, and  not  to  kill  living  beings,  but  it  also  com- 
mands to  take  care  for  life,  and  to  have  compassion 
oil.  all  lower  animals. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  65 

Buddha  said:  "Know,  now,  O,  disciples,  that  all 
the  world  is  ours,  and  all  mankind  are  our  children, 
and  all  men  are  our  fathers,  and  all  women  are  our 
mothers."  This  means  that  we  must  have  kindness 
for  all  people  without  any  difference,  as  parents  love 
their  children,  and  as  a  child  loves  his  parents. 

Let  us  think  of  the  action  of  taking  life.  We  are 
concerned  especially  with  the  lives  of  the  lower  ani- 
mals, because  it  seems  needless  to  think  about  the 
action  of  murder,  since  it  is  acknowledged  as  a  great 
crime,  and  because  it  is  not  yet  generally  taught 
that  to  take  the  life  of  lower  animals  is  cruel,  im- 
moral and  unnatural. 

Whenever  we  reflect  on  all  living  beings,  does  it 
not  occur  to  the  mind  that  animals  seek  to  escape 
from  death  at  all  times  ?  Nothing  is  so  painful  and 
sorrowful  in  the  world  as  death.  If  animals  are  to 
care  for  their  lives,  then  is  it  not  clear  that,  though 
once  there  were,  unfortunately,  many  people  who 
killed  animals  mercilessly,  to  kill  is  against  the  na- 
ture of  mankind,  morality  and  natural  law  ? 

To  act  with  kindness  towards  beings  inferior  to 
men  is  the  duty  of  man,  or  the  nature  of  humanity 
at  least.  According  to  Kant,  the  duties  incumbent 
on  man  are  classified  fourfold : 

(1).     Duties  in  reference  to  himself  as  an  individual. 

(2).  Duties  in  reference  to  his  fellow  men  as  living 
in  society. 

(3).     Duties  in  reference  to  beings  inferior  to  man. 

(4).  Duties  in  reference  to  superhuman  beings. 
Some  objections  as  to  our  duties  toward  beings  in- 
ferior to  man  are  raised  by  Christians  on  the  ground 
that  inferior  animals  are,  like  the  inanimate  part  of 
creation,  to  be  regarded  as  subject  to  our  will  and 
subservient  to  our  use.  Although  it  is  so,  by  con- 
sidering their  love  for  their  offsprings  and  the  370ung 
for  its  parents,  the  love  of  male  and  female,  and  the 


66  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

mutual  affinities  of  members  of  the  same  group;  also 
their  attachment  for  their  leader,  and  the  general 
condition  of  the  life  of  animals  compared  with  man's, 
who  will  say  that  the  inferior  living  beings  are  like 
the  inanimate  things  ?  To  kill  the  inferior  animals, 
or  even  to  inflict  unnecessary  pain  upon  any  living 
creature,  is  it  not  cruel  ? 

Whereupon,  Buddha  taught  not  to  kill,  but  have 
regard  for  life.  He  who  keeps  perfectly  this  precept 
can  always  be  happy  in  his  mind,  his  body  safe, 
and  a  help  to  others  to  attain  peace  in  their  mind. 

We  have  discussed  at  some  length  this  precept  be- 
cause it  has  been  considered  strange  to  our  Christian 
friends  that  Buddhists  have  regarded  inferior  animals 
superior  to  inanimate  things.  The  other  precepts 
will  be  mentioned  briefly.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
fully  explain  them,  since  they  are  observed  as  com- 
mon precepts  by  Christians. 

2.  "Not  to  steal  or  rob,"  but  help  every  one  to 
obtain  the  fruit  of  his  labor.  By  the  precept  we  are 
forbidden  to  take  unjustly  or  keep  what  belongs  to 
another,  and  are  commanded  to  give  to  all  men  what 
belongs  to  them  and  to  respect  their  property  and  to 
be  careful  not  to  damage  the  things  which  we  bor- 
rowed, and  return  them  without  fail.  He  who  keeps 
perfectly  this  precept  will  not  lose  his  property  by 
disaster. 

3.  "  Not  to  commit  adultery,"  but  lead  a  life  of 
chastity.  By  this  precept  we  are  forbidden  to  commit 
unchaste  freedom  with  another's  wife  or  husband; 
also  all  immodesty  even  with  one's  own  wife  or  hus- 
band at  forbidden  times,  forbidden  places,  and  com- 
manded to  be  pure  in  thought  and  modest  in  all  our 
words  and  actions.  He  who  keeps  perfectly  this 
precept  can  enjoy  domestic  happiness  with  his  wife 
and  children. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  67 

4.  "  Not  to  lie,"  but  to  be  truthful ;  and  to  speak 
the  truth  with  discretion,  wisely  and  lovingly.     By\ 
this  precept  we  are  forbidden  not  only  the  making  of 
false  statements  in  words,  but  also  in  actions.     It  is  . 
not  only  "  saying  that  which  is  not,"  but  also  "  pre-  | 
tending  that  which  is  not,"  as,  for  instance,  "  claim- 
ing to  be  a  learned  man  when  one  is  not  so."     Every- 
thing,   therefore,    that     makes    against     the     truth, 
whether  in  deed  or  word,  falls  under  this  prohibition. 
He  who   keeps    perfectly  this    precept  will   not    be 
deceived  by  others,  and  will  gain  the  confidence  of 
the  world  and  the  reverence  of  Pleaven. 

To  the  above  four  precepts  is  added  one  other,  to 
form  the  five  observances  or  precepts  which  are  im- 
posed on  the  Buddhist  laity  in  general,  namely, — 

5.  "To  abstain  from  using  intoxicating  liquors, 
and  drugs  that  tend  to  procrastination."  We  read 
in  the  Sutra  as  follows  : 

"  Let  the  householder  who  approves  of  this  Dharma 
not  give  himself  to  intoxicating  drinks  ;  let  him  not 
cause  others  to  drink,  nor  approve  of  those  who  drink, 
knowing  it  is  madness.  For  through  intoxication 
the  stupid  commit  sins  ;  let  him  avoid  this  path  of 
sin,  this  madness,  this  folly,  delightful  only  to  the 
inebriate." 

The  ten  precepts  embrace  the  first  four  above 
enumerated,  with  six  additional: 

5.  "  Not  to  fabricate  or  circulate  evil  reports;  not 
to  carp,  but  look  for  the  good  that  may  be  in  a 
fellow-man,  and  to  defend  him  against  his  detractors 
or  calumniators." 

He  who  follows  this  commandment  will  gain  the 
respect  of  angels  and  men,  and  preserve  the  bonds  of 
friendship  unbroken.  And  he  will  merit  to  be  born 
hereafter  into  a  righteous  sphere  and  possess  a  voice 
sacred  as  that  of  Buddha  himself. 


68  The  Outline  of  Buddhism. 

6.  "  Not  to  be  profane,"  but  to  speak  witli  decency 
and  dignity.  By  this  precept  we  are  forbidden  from 
carping  and  villifying  others,  also  of  the  lowest  crea- 
tures, such  as  ants,  sparrows,  serpents,  etc. ;  from 
speaking  evil  words  or  villifying  them,  and  are  ex- 
horted to  speak  of  their  industrious  habits,  etc. 

If  you  carp  of  human  beings,  especially  of  your 
parents,  3^ou  would  be  condemned  to  Avitch  (Hell 
without  interruption) .  By  the  merit  of  keeping  this 
precept,  there  will  never  be  fear  of  strife,  nor  violent 
conduct  in  any  place. 

7.  "  Not  to  tattle,"  but  to  speak  to  the  purpose,  or 
keep  silence.  By  this  precept  we  are  commanded  to 
use  always  harmonious  words  and  keep  peace  with 
each  other,  and  be  careful  not  to  use  words  that  may 
destroy  the  peace  existing  between  husband  and  wife, 
parents  and  children,  master  and  servants,  and 
friends,  and  trouble  be  at  an  end. 

8.  "  Not  to  covet  nor  envy,"  but  to  rejoice  at  the 
prosperity  of  others.  Covetousness  may  be  defined 
as  the  desire  of  unlawful  possessions.  Its  cure  is  to 
be  found  in  the  absolute  indifference  to  all  posses- 
sions. 

By  this  precept  we  are  forbidden  to  grudgingly 
hold  our  own,  or  to  covet  anything  which  belongs  to 
others,  but  to  give  of  our  possessions  to  the  poor 
according  to  our  power.  Treasure  is  public  property 
of  the  world  and  is  an  implement  by  which  every  one 
in  the  world  may  share  equally,  exchanging  all 
necessities  with  one  another.  Therefore  if  you  gain 
treasure,  divide  it  into  four,  and  contribute  one  part 
of  it  to  the  public,  the  second  part  to  Triratna — 
Buddha,  Dharma,  Sangha, — with  the  third  part  sus- 
tain yourself,  and  the  rest  you  will  deposit  for  your 
children.  So,  according  to  circumstances,  you  will 
give  or  loan  your  treasures  to  the  poor,  but  never  be 
miserly  nor  demand   unreasonable  profit  out  of  it. 


The  Outline  of  Buddhism.  69 

He  who  keeps  perfectly  this  precept,  happiness  being 
fulfilled,  will  never  suffer  from  poverty. 

9.  "  To  cleanse  one's  heart  of  malice  ;  casting  out 
all  anger,  spite,  and  ill-will,  to  treat  all  living  beings 
with  kindness  and  benevolence.'' 

He  who  keeps  perfectly  this  precept  will  love  all 
with  the  warmest  heart.  There  will  then  be  no 
enmity  nor  disquiet  in  his  mind  at  any  time  or  place. 

10.  "  To  be  diligent  in  learning,  and  to  free  the 
mind  from  ignorance."  B}^  this  precept  we  are 
exhorted  to  appreciate  all  instructions  of  sages  and 
wise  men,  keep  in  our  mind  that  a  good  cause  will 
bring  good  results,  and  a  bad  cause  bad  results,  just 
as  water  is  wet  and  fire  is  hot,  which  no  one  can 
interchange,  and  to  be  not  selfish,  but  conceive  the 
truth  of  self-denial.  In  a  word,  to  stand  on  the  same 
point  of  view  with  all  Buddhas,  and  strive  to  propa- 
gate the  truth.  If  a  man  has  learned  to  control  all 
his  thought  he  is  master  of  himself  Being  master 
of  himself,  he  is,  then,  master  of  the  universe,  or 
Buddha. 


List  of  Some  Books  on  Buddhism 


The  Gospel  of  Buddha. 

According  to  old  records. 
By  Paul  Carus.     Pp.  xiv — 275.     Cloth,  $1.00;  paper,  35  cents. 
Open  Court  Publishing  Co  ,  Chicago,  111.     1894. 

Buddhism  and  Its  Christian  Critics. 

By  Paui,  Carus.     Pp.  316.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

Contents:  The  Origin  of  Buddhism — The  Philosophy  of  Budd- 
hism— The  Ps}^chological  Problem — The  Basic  Concepts  of  Budd- 
hism— Buddhism  and  Christianity — Christian  Critics  of  Buddhism. 
Open  Court  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago,  111.     1897. 


Buddhist  Catechism. 

By  H.  S.  Olcott,  President  of  the  Theosophical  Society. 
English  edition,  paper,  35  cents;  American  edition,  parchment, 
50  cents. 

Occult  Publishing  Co.,  73  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

A  Buddhist  Catechism. 

By  Col.  H.  S.  Olcott.     With  introduction  and  notes  by  Pro- 
fessessor  EHott  Coues. 

Being  Vol.  3  of  Biogen  Series.     Parchment,  50  cts.    Pp.  viii — 84. 
Occult  Publishing  Co.,  73  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 


A  Buddhist  Catechism. 

By  SUBHADRA  Bhikshu.     Pp.  iv— 107.     Cloth,  $1.00. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  27  West  Twenty-third  Street, 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


Buddhism,  being  a  sketch  of  the  Life  and  Teachings  of 
Gautama,  The  Buddha. 

ByT.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  Ph.D.,  Iv.L.D.     Pp.  viii— 252.     Cloth, 
about  $1.00.     Sixteenth  Thousand. 

E.  &  J.  B.  Young  &  Co.,  New  York.     1894. 

Also  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  43  Queen 

Victoria  Street,  London. 


Buddhism,  its  History  and  Literature. 

By  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  Ph.D.,  L.L.D.  Pp.  x— 230.  Cloth, 
$1.50.  Being  the  First  Series  of  American  Lectures  on  the  History 
of  Religions. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  27  West  Twenty-third  Street, 

New  York,  N.  Y.     1896.  ^  t^^  ' 


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